Animorphs 55: The Last
by Gryphon124
Summary: Takes place after book 54. The Crayak cheated and the cosmic game is not yet over, but it is coming to its end and The Animorphs must finish it, with Rachel as a guide. Narrated by Tobias. R&R! Chapter 13 is Up!
1. Prologue

This story takes place where #54: The Begining left off. The Prologue has been revised from the original. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but the other chapters are longer. 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything that KA Applegate wrote about or created.

* * *

**Prologue**

My name is Tobias. You have heard our stories a hundred times before. We fought a war, and against all odds won. But not without countless casualties on both sides. Our story should have ended there, broken as many of us were, unable to heal – but it didn't. There was still a cosmic game being played and our time as its pawns were not over.

The One, that thing that had taken Ax's body, stared back at us through the view screen. "Ram the Bladeship" Jake said. I understood his motives, but it didn't help the feelings of betrayal I felt towards him. After all, I'd lost Rachel because of him; I'd lost everyone and everything I had cared about because of his decisions. And while I knew deep down that he made the only decisions he could, than any of us could and have survived, that everyone had lost something in the war, I felt like I was still constantly given the short end of the stick. And now, without any consultation he was throwing away our lives; Marco's, Menderdashe's, Ax's, all of ours. Of course we would have gone along with him given the chance, I had no illusions about our chances of survival, but damn it, I wanted the choice! _(Jake, you can't order this! It's wrong and screwed up! There's go-)_ I didn't get much farther than that before I felt the Rachel give a horrible shudder and I was thrown into the bulkhead, the world vanishing.

You know the light at the end of the tunnel? Well this wasn't it. This was a blinding light, like my retinas were being burned out. I tried to close my eyes only to realize that I didn't have eyelids, eyes, or a body for that matter. I was floating in this painful bright light, I was the painful bright light, and then there was only darkness.

When I opened my eyes, I was staring at a ceiling. It was blue and dusty. I looked to my right and saw my alarm clock, blinking twelve. Right, gotta set it some day. I looked to my left and saw a poster of Matchbox Twenty. I didn't remember buying a poster, and I didn't remember ever really being into Matchbox Twenty. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember much at all, not even who I was. I got up off the rumpled bed I was on and went over to a mirror on one of the walls of my room, yes I remember that now, it was my room. The person in the mirror was me. A young kid, probably 14 or so, scrawny with messy dirty blonde hair. That was me.


	2. Chapter 1

Yay! Chapter one is up and it is much longer than the prologue. Enjoy! (R&R!)

* * *

**Chapter 1**

My Name is Tobias Fangor. My father is Al Fangor and my mother is Loren Fangor. We moved into town a few months ago. My uncle lives here, but I don't seem him much; my mother has warned me away from him. I am a little small for my age and most people see me as a geek. I'm used to it and I've learned to shrug it off over the years.

"Breakfast is ready! Come down before it gets cold!" called my mom. I finished getting dressed and jogged down the stairs, managing to trip on the last one and fall in a heap. Did I mention I was a klutz? As I entered the kitchen and saw my mom putting pancakes on the table, something nagged at the back of my mind, but I couldn't figure out what. "So, First day back from Christmas vacation, are you excited?" mom asked as she sat down with a cup of coffee.

"Mom, I you know I don't like talking about school."

"Oh come on Toby, It's not like I'm talking about your girlfriend or anything." She got a glint in her eye, "Speaking of which, how is Rachel?"

Rachel is not technically my girlfriend. I have a crush on her and try to hang out with her. She actually asked me out when I couldn't work up the nerve. I'm still not sure if it was a pity date or not, but I'm hoping it was for real. She's the athletic type, does gymnastics and holds herself in a way that says "I know I'm at the top". Despite her being the Fashion queen of the 8th grade, she hangs out with a totally different crowd. Her best friend is a girl named Cassie. She is an environmentalist at heart and she spends most of her time working in an animal rehabilitation clinic with her father at the edge of town. I think she said that it was in their barn.

"She's fine mom, now can we change the subject?" I could feel my cheeks turning red as I talked.

"Rachel is a-" **dead….Rachel is dead. **A cold shiver ran down my spine and a nearly dropped my fork on the floor. "What!?"

My mother looked taken aback. "I just said that Rachel is a fine young girl. What's wrong?"

Suddenly my mind was feeling clotted, thick. "I…I need to get to school, see you later." Grabbing my bookbag off the sofa, I ran out of the house and halfway down the block before I slowed. Something told me what I heard wasn't my imagination, that it was real.

* * *

School was a blur. I kept thinking back to breakfast and zoning out in all my classes. In science, I accidentally cut straight through the frog I was dissecting and had to get a new one. Finally, during 5th period, my teacher decided that something was wrong and she sent me to the vice principals. I don't know why but no one ever sees the principal in this school, it's always the vice principle. The secretary ushered me into his room almost as soon as I arrived. Mr. Chapman was behind his desk, scanning through various papers. He looked up as the door shut behind me and motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Dropping my bookbag next to it, I took a seat and waited with my hands folded. 

"Good Afternoon, Mr. Fangor, what brings you to my office?" Mr. Chapman asked as he sat down the papers.

"Uh, nothing really, I just had weird morning and have been a little out of it." I didn't really feel like telling him that I was hearing voices and actually contemplating what they said.

"Uh huh. In that case, I am not the person Ms. Anderson should have sent you to. If you are still preoccupied tomorrow, I suggest you see your guidance counselor, alright?" Mr. Chapman looked me in the eyes nodded and went back to his papers. "You may go back to class." **Yeerk**I nearly fell out of my chair, and barely restrained myself from searching the room for the phantom voice. Mr. Chapman must have noticed me tense as he looked a little worried, but I didn't give him a chance to ask. I grabbed my book bag hurried to the door and barely avoided his secretary at the door. Mumbling an apology, I continued out into the hallway and back to class. Thankfully school was over right after class and I managed to hold myself together until it ended.

Searching out the yard in front of the school, I spotted Rachel's cousin, Jake. He's a nice kid, one of those people who belongs, who was born to be in charge. I walked over to where he and another kid, shorter than myself, were talking. The short kid stopped in the middle of what he was saying and looked at me expectantly. Ignoring him I turned to Jake. "um, hi jake. I was wondering if you knew where Rachel is? I need to talk to her." It was all I could do to not stare at my feet.

The short kid raised an eyebrow but said nothing. I couldn't read Jake's face. "She should be over by the buses, she's going to a gymnastics thing this afternoon at the mall." I thanked him and hurried over to where the buses were parked. Sure enough, I spotted Rachel's blonde hair in the crowd. Pushing my way through, and getting a punch in the arm for my trouble, I found myself behind her. She was talking to Cassie about clothing, something which gave Cassie a glazed look.

I just stood there, realizing that I didn't know what to say. After a moment the crowd began to get on the bus and I slinked away unseen. Sighing, I started the trek home, actually hoping that the voice would come back and explain things to me.

After about five minutes, a green tracker pulled up. My dad rolled down the window and waved. "Want a ride? It's pretty cold out there." Shrugging, I climbed over the curb and around the car, getting in the passenger's side. Dad took his foot off the break shifted gears and began to drive down the street. "So how was school?" he asked. "I don't feel like talking about it." From the look on my face, he seemed to get the message and the rest of the ride was silent.

He dropped me off at our house before taking my mom out shopping, leaving me home alone. I went inside, left my bookbag by the front door and continued out the back. Brushing snow off of the picnic table, I sat down and just stared up in the sky. **Rachel is dead, Chapman is controlled**This time I did fall off the bench and hit my head on the back porch. Dazed, I stared up at a lone tree in our yard, where a hawk was staring back at me. A red tailed hawk. Suddenly I knew, and groaned. The Animorphs were in trouble.


	3. Chapter 2

Ah, back again. Due to school projects and a general lack of free time, this update is somewhere around 3 months late. I really had hoped to have it up earlier (like,before Christmas), and I fear that future updates will be just as late (only during the school year.). I apologize in advance for my busy schedule.

Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad that you guys are enjoying it.

**Note**: Despite the fact that I have read the main 54 books, I have not read The Ellimist Chronicles or Visser. If something I write contradicts facts put forth in these books, please let me know. I will try to read them as soon as possible and I will make any corrections at that point.

(oh and I don't own the Animorphs to my knowledge.)

* * *

**Chapter 2**

It took me a moment after I realized this that I was an Animorph myself. Even though I had always been part of the team, becoming a nothlit on the first mission separated me from the rest of the group and since Rachael died, my seclusion had increased the gap to the point that I no longer thought of myself as part of the group.

After getting over the initial shock of memories of battles, mice, aliens, and things which no person should ever experience, I realized two things. First, I was stuck in some sort of crazy fantasy and I couldn't wake up. The second revelation was that I knew the voice that was talking to me. The Ellimist.

I stood up slowly and taking one last glance at the hawk, I headed back inside. First thing I did was see if I could still morph. After concentration for over a minute and getting only a headache for my trouble, I sat down on my illusionary couch to figure out what to do. It seemed obvious that if Marco and Jake were also trapped here, they were mindwashed, otherwise they would have tried to contact me. Rachel couldn't be here because she was dead, and chances were that Cassie was still safe on earth, while Ax was part of the One. Odd, that the first thought that jumped to my mind was that it was only us Animorphs trapped here, I never considered that this kind of thing happened to anyone else.

I didn't know what to do. We had been in situations like this before, but that was so long ago. It seemed that my time living off instinct had not helped my problem solving skills. I finally decided that I would have to call a meeting of the remaining Animorphs and hope that I could snap them out of this dream world. Standing up, I went over to the phone where it hung on the wall. **She is coming**. I paused as I reached for the receiver.

"Who? Why don't you show yourself! Why are you hiding in the shadows? Help me!" It was useless, the Ellimist was either ignoring my pleas or he was more restrained by his game than usual. As he predicted though, there was a knock at the front door. Resigned to being a pawn for the moment, I went into the front room and opened the door. Rachel was the last person I expected to see standing there. Suffice it to say that I was taken aback. The look on her face was not of the innocent girl I saw at school or had "memories" of in this world. It was the look of the Rachel I had loved, who had fought and died for our cause. "Ra..Rachel? What are you doing here?"

She replied simply, "Do you know?"

I didn't really understand the question, so instead of answering, I ushered her into our living room. My throat was dry, seeing her, knowing she wasn't real was tearing away at me. "Aren't you supposed to be at the mall?"

Rachel paced the room once and then stopped in front of me, staring into my eyes. After what seemed like hours of silence, she said suddenly, "I like you this way, Tobias. Your eyes have lost the fierce look of the hawk here." She sighed and moved away, sitting down at the end of the couch.

I felt my throat constrict. "Rach?" I said softly, not knowing what answer I wanted to hear.

She gave me a sad smile and motioned for me to sit down next to her. "Marco, Jake and Ax need your help Tobias."

Numbly, I sat down next to her, still not believing what I felt in my heart. "Is it really you? I mean this could all be some twisted nightmare…" my mouth closed slowly as she held my hand and looked into my eyes. I knew then that she was real, or at least as real as things get in dreams.

Before she could say another word, I pulled her close, hugging her tightly, praying that I would never wake up. My one dream, my one wish had come true. For the first time in a long time, I felt the tears flow. I didn't even have to try, they just casacaded down my cheeks as I held her, my head on her shoulder. "Rach, I….I never…" It was impossible for me to tell her how I was feeling, and I think she knew this. Slowly, she drew away from me, holding my hand in hers.

She pressed it gently. "Tobias, I know what you are feeling, but time is important. It may already be too late for Ax, but we still need to try." I could see the same sadness and love I felt mirrored in her eyes, and lines ran down her cheeks, but she her look was urgent and I did my best to pull myself back together. "Ax? Wait, the creature called the 'One'! Can we still save him?" I yearned to ask if I could still save her, but I know she would have ignored the question. My warrior princess always put saving others first.

"The 'One', as it refers to itself, absorbs other creatures. It creates mass hallucinations for each, either their greatest dreams or their greatest fears, whichever it feels will trap the mind. Then it slowly merges with their body and when it is done, it eats the mind. Ax is already far into this process. You saw how the one has control over his body." She paused, waiting for me to grasp this. It sunk in fast, and I finally got my emotions under control. I was being absorbed by the 'One'. I was experiencing a dream produced by it to keep my mind in check. If I could break free from its control, then I could fight it.

"How long have I been trapped here? How long does Ax have?" I brushed away my tears with my free hand, trying to recapture the hawk's look of indifference, but I couldn't get it to come here.

"Only a few minutes have passed in the real world. The yeerks managed to disable your ship and board it before you crashed. For every 4 hours in this dream, one minute passes in the real world. Ax was interrogated and tortured long before he was absorbed." She growled at this, reminding me of her grizzly. The hatred that she said the word yeerk with proved that nothing had changed. "He was absorbed a little under a day ago. We have perhaps 10 minutes left in the real world before the 'One' destroys his mind."

I nodded in agreement, but my mind was still full of questions and I didn't know if I should ask them, if I even had time to. **Ask**. It's a really annoying thing when someone pops into your head and tells you what to do, but at least it freed my tongue.

"Rachel, I understand the situation, but…how are you here? What does this have to do with the Ellimist?" She seemed to listen to thin air for a moment; I suspect that it was the ellimist, before she smiled that sad smile of hers. "I am here as the last move, the final play in the game. The 'One' was a illegal move made by Crayak and I am the countermove made by the Ellimist. I am only alive here, in this world. That is all I am allowed to say, my hawk." Tears began to flow down her cheeks again, but she was determined to look strong despite this, ignoring the stream. "Come on Tobias, you know what we have to do, and we best get started."


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: **Yay! A Chapter! First one in a while.It seems I might of lied when Isaid I would only update infrequently during the school year...Ah well, I've been randomly updating some stories lately, and this was one of the lucky ones. I'm gonna try and thank my reviewers from now on, so here I'm gonna mention all those who came before:

_SperRalph_: You were the first, thanks! Sorry its moving so slowly, I just never seem to find the time.  
_Cyberspace_: Thanks for the spelling of the name, I'm always bad with spelling. As for Tobias and Jake, I think Tobias was angry at jake, irrationally, but angry nonetheless. Deep down I don't think he does blame him, but like you said he had no one else but Rachel, and Jake is the one which he can channel his anger to.  
_RI_ _FAN14_: Glad you like it a bit, sorry that I can't hurry more.  
_Gretl517_: Thanks for the encouragement!  
_Someone_: Thanks!  
_Rachel's_ _real_ _boyfriend_: Its not? Yay! Thats good.  
_Traycon3_: I have two from you, thanks for the reviews. Yeah, I wanted to bring her back, but there really isn't any escuse for bringing her back from the dead, The last books pretty much put any hope of that down, unless you really want to get wild. So she's back, but only not perminently...how sad. :(  
Elwing: Thanks for the Review! I hope you manage to track down those books and read them. The regular titles are some of the best, though Elfangor's Secret is my favorite of the entire series.

Okay, thats everyone from all chapters previous. Thank you all for your reviews and I hope I get some more for this chapter.

**Disclaimer**: Do I really need one? I mean as much as I'd love to own them (And sometimes even pretend I do), everyone knows who they really belong to...that woman...who wrote...ya know...those books...

* * *

**Chapter 3**

She moved to the door, waiting for me. I got up slowly, moving to her side as she opened the door and went out into the frosty weather. Real or not, it was cold out. I grabbed my jacket and followed her outside.

"So how are we going to rescue the others? How do we escape my dream world?" I didn't have a clue how to go about doing this and with Rachel standing beside me, I couldn't concentrate very well.

"It's not just yours. Marco is also in this one. It's easier for the 'One' if he doesn't have to create many realities. He simply merged the wishes that you and Marco had."

I suddenly remembered that it was Marco with Jake earlier that day. He had seemed the same as before. I wondered what his dream was. In real life, he had gotten everything he ever wanted; a family, money, women. What could possibly be better for him here?

I hadn't realized I spoke the last part allowed until Rachel responded. "I don't know everything about this place. I suspect that something that happened during the war he wanted to change or forget."

We walked in silence after that.

As we neared the end of my street, I found my arm engaged with Rachel's. At first I tried to pull back, but I stopped suddenly as I realized how much I really wanted it. Remembering my hawkish tendencies was not something I wanted to do now.

The silence was getting to me, and finally I couldn't take it any longer. "Rach? I uh, I mean…..uh…." I didn't say I was good at breaking the ice.

She smiled at me, and I saw for a brief moment, that girl I had first met, before the weight of war and death had gotten to her. "I can't answer that, or rather, you already know the answer. Let's focus on Marco. From what I know of this world, he lives with his parents not too far from here."

His parents? Of course, the yeerks didn't exist here, so his mother would be free. Like my family was free. Suddenly a new weight fell in my stomach, as the implications arose within me. My family. My father. I had a family here. My mother was free and healthy and happy. My father….my father was alive. Was he a nothlit? Elfangor…. Tears began to flow anew from my eyes, causing Rachel to look over at me with concern, but I just shook my head at her.

"It's this world. It's given me what I always wanted. And now that I have it, I can't believe I have to give it all up. Even if I know it's not real."

She nodded and pulled me closer as we turned the corner, moving towards the bus stop. "I know it's hard. But the war has never been easy. You have been the strongest among us. You and Cassy were the heart of the team in your own ways. Be strong again, just once more, for me."

I nodded silently to her word, understanding them, if not accepting them. I felt the closest I ever had to being whole right now, and I dreaded the void that would appear within me when I left here.

We reached the bus stop and sat down on the bench there. My head rested on her shoulder, the feeling of her skin against mine so comforting, the scent of her hair so familiar. It was something that I couldn't believe I could ever have forgotten. Her arms encircled my waist, keeping us close, her body warming mine, and mine warming her. I closed my eyes, just imagining that we were in a home, sitting before a fire, just being normal. "I miss you…." I whispered. I could feel her tightening her grip, not uncomfortably around me. "I know…I know…"

The bus pulled up, breaking the blessed silence and intimacy that I was enjoying. Sighing heavily, we pulled apart; standing as the green bus swung its door wide, allowing us entrance. I pulled out my wallet, fishing out a dollar bill, which I deposited in the little machine by the driver. I waited for Rachel before moving towards the back of the bus and taking a seat. It was pretty empty; the only other people upon it were two elderly women and a young boy from my school. Rachel gave him glance, and then pulled her eyes away, moving over and sliding into the seat beside me, her arm encircling my shoulders, which I reciprocated.

This time she let her head rest on my shoulder as the bus began moving, and I let out contented sigh. This was how it should have been. My eyes, gazed over at the other passengers finally resting on the boy. It was a moment before recognition set in. It was David, the first new Animorph we created, and a traitor. Vivid memories of him, and what we had forced him to become came back to me. The images of the rat sent shivers down my spine as I watched him there, oblivious to what we did to him in the real world. It was so unreal.

Rachel was actively ignoring him, and I didn't blame her. The bus pulled into a stop, and I heard her release a sigh as David stood up and moved off the bus. She pulled me closer as we began moving again. One of the elderly women looked in our direction, and the thought struck me how strange it might be, 2 kids barely preteens, showing such affection for one another. We had grown up so much since the war had begun…..

My thoughts were broken as the bus began to stop again and this time Rachel stood. "We're here." She offered her hand to me, and pulled me up from the seat. The doors opened, and we made our way to the front, thanking the driver as we hopped off. The neighborhood was quite different from where Marco and his father used to live. Upscale housing as far as the eye could see it seemed. Large homes with two car garages and brick facades. Rachel began moving down the street, in the direction the bus had gone, myself jogging to catch up. We stopped a about a block away from the bus stop, in front of a two story Victorian with a large wrap around porch. A stone carport was attached on the left, no vehicles underneath, except for a 15 speed mountain bike locked up.

I could feel my mouth open and close. "This is where Marco lives? He gave up his huge mansion and beach babes for this?" It was a beautiful house, and one that I had always dreamed of living in, but Marco had gotten so much after the war, he had seemed so adjusted, I couldn't figure out why this was better.

"This is it Tobias. I don't know why he lives here, just that he does. Our 'friend', the Ellimist only gave me so much to work with." I nodded, he never did give us much to work with, we'd always have to figure it out ourselves. I looked over at her, for a second just lost in her perfect features. Bringing myself out of it, I asked, "So…any ideas on how to wake him up? I mean, I had the Ellimist's help, and the hawk. What ab-" I stopped suddenly as Rachel swung towards me, her eyes critical. "What do you mean, hawk?" It was my turn to look surprised. "You mean, the Ellimist didn't send it? That's what broke my spell; there was a hawk in my backyard….but if it wasn't him…" This only confused matters, and it made me question how many of the things I'd heard had come from the Ellimist, and how many from another source. Rachel's eyes showed empathy, and she gave me a sad smile. "We can figure it out later, right now, let's just get inside."

We crossed the front lawn, hand in hand, going up the front steps and the porch. Standing in front of the door, I felt the tension in both of us as we looked at each other and then the door. Taking a deep breath, I reached out and pushed the small round button upon the frame, to be greeted by the sound of bells within. Then a moment later, a voice. "Don't bother Marco, I'll get it." Footsteps shuffled and the door before us clicked and swung open.


	5. Chapter 4

Hey All. Welcome to a new chapter. Its a rare occurance that they go up so quickly, so I apologize if this gets your hopes up. On to comments;

Quillian: Thanks, glad you like it so far. I've actually come across your name elsewhere, and was actually planning on reading some of your work. Thanks for reminding me!

Nuke Umbrella: Yeah, a lot of people weren't satisfied with the ending. She defends it, and I agree with her, but its just a sad way to leave our characters.

Tobiashawk13: He's your favorite character? I'd never have guessed ;)He's mine too, hence this story. Thank you for your comments, I hope you continue to like it.

**AN**: I'm not good at the comment department, whether writing them or responding, so I apologize for my verbal skills.

Another AN, also called a disclaimer: Read "A Free Culture", that'll sum up this feature, and in only 300 pages or more!

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

I'm not sure who looked more surprised, myself, Rachel, or Jake. Jake recovered the first however, and leaned onto the doorframe, nonchalantly. "Hey Rachel, Hey …uh, Toby, right? What are you guys doing here?"

"Tobias, yeah. Look, we're here to talk to Marco, if that's okay?" I spoke up, giving Rachel an extra second to shake out of whatever she was in. Jake's head turned towards me, as if sizing me up. "You know Marco, huh? I didn't know that." He turned around and called back into the house. "Hey Marco, Tobias and…. Rachel are here to see you!"

As his back was to us, I leaned in to Rachel, whispering in her ear, "Is this our Jake, or an imaginary Jake?"

"Imaginary, He told me that Jake was in a different dream." There was no need to say who He was. I nodded, and straightened up again. Someone could be heard within moving around and towards us.

"Who's Tobias? Rachel, like your cousin, tell me it's my lucky day." And then there was Marco, standing before us with his sardonic grin plastered upon his face. He gave it genuinely to Rachel, and just gave me a small frown. "Hey."

Rachel gave him a winning smile, unlike anything she ever gave him in the real world, and I felt a tinge of jealousy. "Hey Marco, Mind if we talk to you, alone, for a few minutes?"

I think that tipped him off, Rachel acting nice to him didn't seem to happen even in this world. "Uh, sure. I guess." Jake nodded, gave both Rachel and me a strange look, and then moved back inside. "I'm gonna make myself a sandwich." Marco gave him a nod, and pulled the door closed behind him.

"So….to what do I owe this pleasure?" He asked as he looked between us.

Now that we were face to face with him, I realized I had no clue how to go about broaching the subject. Rachel seemed to be thinking the same thing, and we passed a look between us, like now_ what? _

Marco was beginning to get impatient I think, his foot started tapping and he folded his arms. Finally I spoke, the silence probably driving all of us insane. "Marco, you should sit down." Cliché and stupid, I know. I motioned to a chair to one side of the porch, moving over myself and taking perch on the railing. Rachel just leaned against one of the columns. He hesitated a moment before complying, sitting down slowly. "Who are you again?"

"I'm Tobias. Your eyes in the sky." An idea had begun to form in my mind, but it was far from complete.

"Eyes in the sky? You work for traffic report on the radio or something?" He said, tilting his head as he looked at me.

"No. Look, I'm, we," I motioned to Rachel and Marco, "are Animorphs, remember?" Marco stared at me with obvious disbelief, then a smile crossed his face and he chuckled. "Rachel is putting you up to this, aren't you?" He turned to ask her. Rachel just shook her head. I pressed on. "You named us Marco, you invented the word Animorph. You named me Hawk-boy. Rachel was, is our Xena, remember?"

A flicker of something crossed over his face, like a violent muscle twitch, but it was gone so quickly. "Uh right. Look, I don't know what you're playing at, but I'm going back in. See y-" Rachel moved quickly as he had begun to get up, shoving him back into the chair. "Sit." Was all she said. He gave her a shocked look, unsure of what was happening, and I couldn't blame him. "What are you doing?"

I began to speak fast. "Yeerks, slugs invading. Andalites, morphing, Ellimist, Visser Three, The Crayak, Hork Bajir, Taxxons, Time Matr…" I trailed off as another thought hit me, the way to escape this dream. Now was not the time though, and I brushed it into the corner of my mind for now. "Does any of this ring a bell? It was a war Marco! A war, this is just a dream…"

I don't know if he believed me or not, he'd stopped looking at us and was now staring at his shoes very intently. Rachel moved back from him. "Your mother Marco. Visser One." Rachel said.

That did it; I could see the wheels in his head turning, the memories flooding back. His hands covered his face and he leaned back in his chair. My eyes widened in surprise as I saw tears falling from his cheeks. "Damn….it wasn't just a dream. Of course it wasn't. Why couldn't it be…..wait." He removed his hands, wiping his cheeks slightly. "Rachel's dead…..so how are….." I don't think it needed to be said, but she said it anyway. "Ellimist."

He nodded as his suspicions were confirmed. "What about Jake, why did you send him away?" Briefly, Rachel filled him in on our situation, which he took pretty well considering. She finished and leaned back on the railing. "We still have to locate Jake and Ax." Marco pulled himself out of the chair, putting his hand out in front of him. "All for one?" I don't know why, but that instant, with Marco and Rachel by my side, things felt like the old days…but better. I smiled, a giggle escaping my lips as I put my hand on top of his. Rachel even smiled at him and then gently put her hand on top of mine, squeezing slightly. "And one for all."

Our hands went high, and we couldn't help but laugh with Marco. Briefly things seemed like how they were meant to be. How they should have been. It was a fleeting feeling, but it gave me strength. Marco moved towards the stairs, hopping down them onto the ground. "So how do we escape from here to find Jake?" Rachel and I moved after him, onto the yard. "I actually think I know how. My father is Elfangor, and in order for that to be so, Andalites must still exist. Meaning that the Time Matrix should be where he left it." I answered.

Rachel thought this over and nodded. Marco looked at me a little more skeptically. "How do you know your father's Elfangor here? Couldn't he just be a normal human?"

I shook my head. "My greatest dream was to have my true family together. That would include the True Elfangor, not just a random Al Fangor. I'm betting that in my part of this dream, he still used it to come here, and buried it. We just have to dig it up and use it."

Marco still looked at me like I was a fruit loop, which considering everything, was the look he usually gave everyone. "Ya know this is insane, right? We're stuck in our own minds warped dreams being devoured by a creature in the real world, and what's going to save us? An imaginary Time Machine. This is the stuff bad movies are made of." He let out a laugh. "Just like the rest of our lives." We all smiled as we looked at each other, Marco was good at stating the obvious, but in ways that made us all feel better. I began moving towards the Bus stop, Rachel coming up beside me and grabbing a hold of my hand. Marco quickly fell into step right behind us.

We reached the bus stop, and had been waiting only a minute or two when someone called out Marco's name. We all turned to see Jake running up to us. "Marco, Rachel, where are you guys going? What's going on?" He looked both angry and worried at the same time, something else that reminded me of the true world. Jake had become as closed off as I was to the world, he had a hawk's visage as I did there, no emotion to get in the way. But he used to look like this Jake, in the beginning.

Marco spoke first. "Sorry Jake. Something came up. You're cousin and Tobias need me for a few. Go back and finish my game. I won't be long." Jake obviously wasn't buying it but he nodded reluctantly and started back to the house. "Okay, Marco see you in a few. Rachel, I want to speak to you later, so stop by at my house for dinner." She acknowledged him and gave him a wave. "Dinner." Jake moved down, rounded the corner and was gone.

We stood in silence for the next few minutes, when the bus came down the street, stopping in front of us. Taking out the needed change, I let Rachel board first and then stepped up behind her. As I was putting the coins in the meter, Marco spoke from behind me, "Ya know Tobias, you look different. Can't put my finger on it….have you gained weight?"


	6. Chapter 5

**IMPORTANT AN:** Apparently this chapter vanished for reasons unknown and was replaced by chapter six. I have corrected this mistake and I apologize immensely for any confusion that it caused. If you've read the story before but missed this chapter due to this mistake I suggest you read it as it might make things a little clearer.

I've also finally gotten my hands on the Ellimist Chronicles and Visser, meaning I've finally finished the series! What this means in a more relevant way is that the story will conform with them and in fact in later chapters references specific things that occur within them.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The bus ride was very uneventful. I swear the same two old ladies were still on it, but this time they avoided looking at us. Rachel and Marco were silent, a strange thing for them when the other is nearby. I just rested my head on Rach's shoulder, our hands clasped together. Too soon it was over however, as the bus stopped at a familiar mall. Again, we left the bus, thanking the driver as we went. As we stood there, looking at all the people pass us, the bus moved off. A cold wind blew by and I shivered even in my jacket.

Marco rubbed his arms, hunching up. "Damn, its cold. Why couldn't this world take place in summer, or maybe Hawaii?"

"You should have brought a jacket." Rachel said, not even adding an insult. Looked like we were already moving past that stage. Marco seemed to realize it too, and didn't respond. I looked over my shoulder, away from the mall and towards the infamous construction site. It was there that this had all began, so long ago. Everything we ever did, everything we became, everything we gained, everything we lost, it all came from here. Our entire worlds evolved from one chance encounter that happened there. It held many memories, only a few seconds of which were pleasant ones.

I snapped out of my reverie to see Rachel and Marco staring as well. Breaking the silent calm that had come over us, I hurried across the street and into the site, moving towards the clearing where I first met my father. Rachel hurried after me, and a moment later, Marco followed. It didn't take us long to arrive at the spot, just a barren patch of dirt near the center of the site, huge concrete tubes and skeletal frames of a building encircling it. Not even in our world had there been any evidence of what had occurred. All we ever had were the memories, and now the One was trying to even take those away. My hands balled into fists as I stared at the ground, watching the images of memory. It was Marco that finally pulled me out if it as he tapped me on the shoulder.

"Stupid question, but since the Time Matrix is buried, how are we going to dig it up? We don't have any shovels." I raised my finger and opened my mouth, only to close it again. That had been something I had completely overlooked and I cursed myself for lacking the foresight.

"Guys, don't fret, I've got it covered." I turned to look at Rachel who in turn was looking and pointing at something beyond the skeleton of what was to be the new mall. There, just beyond it the yellow of a large construction vehicle could be seen, the crane and shovel attached to it hovering in midair.

"Are you insane? You want us to hijack that?" Marco gave her an incredulous look which quickly became a crazy grin. "That's our Rachel. I'm driving." I didn't even need to see her eyes to know Rachel rolled them. "At least we aren't passengers," she said as Marco began to hurry across the ground towards it. I took the opportunity to move closer to Rachel, crossing my arms and putting my hands under them to keep them warm. "Here's a question, why are their construction vehicles on a site that should be abandoned?"

Her gaze fell on me, the curiosity I felt mirrored in her eyes. She looked around the site, taking it all in before something a lit in them. "Look at it, its not rundown…it's all in good condition, no rust or cracked concrete. Very little litter. It's not abandoned, it's in construction. Yet another change from our world."

I nodded as the sound of a very loud motor roaring to life reached my ears. The ground began to tremble a bit as the larger caterpillar vehicle moved around into the clearing, Marco at the helm. Rachel and I moved quickly from where we stood over to one of the concrete tubes as the large machine was positioned. "You know…we are going to attract some attention pretty quickly I bet. I hope we can dig it up fast." I said as I watched the arm lower down, breaking into the earth. It was so loud that I had to nearly shout those words. Rachel nodded as she watched it dig into the ground. On impulse my arm went over and across her shoulders, pulling myself closer to her.

The excavation when pretty fast as Marco dug. After about five minutes, there was a scrapping sound and when Marco pulled the arm back up, the teeth on the shovel were bent. A moment later the engine clicked off and Marco hopped off the machine. "I think we've found it boys and girls….well boy and girl I guess."

We moved hurriedly forward, to peer into the pit. It was around 15 feet deep, maybe more. And there in the bottom, like a pearl hidden in silt, sat the Time Matrix. "Told you." Marco stuck out his tongue at me as we continued to gaze downward. The sound of sirens and the sudden flashing of blue and red in the distance snapped our heads up however. "Seriously, could they have better timing?" Marco said as he began to climb down the hole. "Hurry up you two. We want to get out of here before we're incarcerated."

We didn't need a second thought and as I saw the first police car pulling into the lot I scrambled down into the pit. Unfortunately I missed my footing about 3 feet way down and fell the rest of the way, landing hard on my back. The air was pushed out of my lungs and I curled up in a ball as the pain shot through my back. "Tobias!" Rachel cried out as she hurried to complete her descent. Marco reached the bottom before her however, and offered his hand, which I took, as he pulled me up. "I don't suggest doing that…" I groaned. Rachel finally got down, gave me a brief hug before turning to the mostly covered orb before us. The sirens were quite loud now, and near, I was keenly aware of the sounds of car doors being slammed. Marco had bent down near the Matrix, but he was looking at me. "What now? Where do we ask it to go?"

Rachel and I both reached down, touching it, with Marco following suit. "Anywhere but here….um…." I closed my eyes and thought hard. "Take us to where Jake faces his dreams or nightmares." In my mind I pictured Jake, the true Jake as he had been aboard the Rachel, as he had been during the last battle. The Jake who had lost his innocence, and perhaps a part of his soul. The sounds of shouting cops and guns being drawn were muffled as a strange pinkish white light enveloped the three of us, and everything seemed to slow down.

It past quickly, and I opened my eyes to see myself standing beside the orb, Marco and Rachel. Rachel was only just opening her eyes, and pulling her hand away from the Matrix. Marco on the other hand was staring out at something beyond. It took me a moment to see what he was seeing, partially because my eyes had to adjust to the gloom, and partly because it wasn't what I had expected to see, though it suddenly made sense. "Its like we're in hell…." Rachel whispered from behind me. I shook my head, "Not like. This is hell, Jake's hell on earth….."

Beyond us, in the gloom of an olive green sky, rose the ruins of our city, a yeerk pool in the center, where the construction site had been, us thankfully up on the hill behind it. Most buildings had been raised, leaving only a few tall ones near downtown. Bug fighters flew over head, darting to and fro everywhere. "How many times now have we gone into an alternate reality where this happened?" Marco asked as we watched a troop of taxxons march by below us.

"I don't know, but there's a new wrinkle." I said pointing. On the far side of the yeerk pool stood a figure, Cassie. And beside her was a woman who looked vaguely familiar, though I couldn't place her. It was the person in front of them, flanked by 4 Hork-Bajir however that drew our attention. Jake had a very sadistic grin on his face as he stood there, staring at the figment Cassie.


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: **I owe you all an explanation as to why this has taken me so long. The simple answer: I blame it on China. The better answer: I'm studying abroad in China, so my time is even more limited than normal. I just have (no offense) more interesting things to do with my time, I mean its Frickin China! Anyway, sorry for the outburst, and I promise to try, repeat try to update slightly more frequently.

General Comments

Thank you again for your reviews, even if I can't respond here. And I'm sorry if I haven't responded personally yet, I tend to be scatter brained. On that note, this new response system doesn't do anything for Annoymous reviews, which sucks because a certain annoymous reviewer coughGemcough, has asked a very important question. Thank you for asking it. insert evil grin here.

Oh, and I don't own Animorphs, for any of you who were under that misconception.

* * *

**Chapter 6 **

"Uh…That's not right." Marco said. Rachel turned and gave him a sarcastic look. "Thanks for that info, Captain obvious. Nothing here is right." For a second, she was the old Rachel, the one I first met. Of course, that kind of feeling of déjà vu I seemed to be getting a lot of lately.

Marco started to reply but stopped and began squinting to get a better look at something down there. Both Rachel and I turned and followed suit to find out what had grabbed his attention. Below at the pool, the woman, who held a dracon beam, began shoving Cassie towards the pool. Rachel instinctively stepped forward but caught herself. I could hear her repeating a mantra under her breath. "It's not Cassie…it's not Cassie…"

They had reached the pool now. Cassie looked to be crying but it was hard to tell at this distance. The woman grabbed her head and forced her onto her knees. "Why isn't he doing anything?" Marco spat out shifting his gaze over to Jake. I followed and only got a shiver down my spine for the trouble. He was laughing. "That's not Jake…Ugh, its obvious, why didn't we think of it before." I smacked my head, partially out of frustration and partly to block out the view of Cassie's head being submerged.

Marco and Rachel turned to stare at me. "What do you mean it's not Jake?" Marco asked. Rachel was looking at me thoughtfully and I suspected she had come to the same conclusion. I pointed down to 'Jake'. "It's his worst fear, being a controller and sending Cassie to become one too." Now it was Marco's turn to smack his head. "I'm his best friend and that slipped past me. Erg."

I began to walk away from the pool and back down the hill; we'd seen enough I thought. Marco and Rachel were quick to catch up. Marco was the first to speak as we past the time Matrix and sat down on a large boulder near it. "Hey, if this is his worst fear, what comes next? I mean, that didn't last very long. Is this same scene going to continue to replay?"

As if in answer to his question the sky suddenly turned dark blue and the light level dropped. The temperature dropped as well. We all jumped up and began looking around. "What the…" The ground behind us just started to fall away, the boulder we had sat on vanishing into the night sky. "Um…run!" Marco cried as he back peddled past the Time Matrix and began running towards the Yeerk pool and our ruined city. We had no choice but to follow as the world fell away. I didn't get much farther than the Time Matrix when I stumbled and hit the ground hard. Rachel spun around and was about to reach for me when a solid metal wall appeared right between us. I felt myself falling, but only about a foot before I hit a cold metal grate. Pushing myself up, I took in my new surroundings, which seemed to be a spaceship. This deduction came only because I had been on multiple such ships. It was a yeerk pool ship. I wasn't sure exactly what part of the ship I was in, but the Taxxon about three feet from me verified enough.

A quick scan revealed a door about a foot from me and another foot away from the Taxxon, which didn't seem to have notice me. As I slowly stood up to make my way to the door, I found out why. Its head area had been sliced neatly off, I presumed by a Tail blade. "What is going on now?" I asked the dead Taxxon and true to its state, I got no reply in turn. The door behind me hissed open and I turned to find Marco and Rachel standing there. Rachel hurried through and wrapped her arms around me. "You okay?" She asked.

I nodded and then motioned to the Taxxon as we slowly came apart. "Any idea what we are in now?" Marco nodded pointing out the door they'd come through. "A lot more dead out there. If my memory serves right, this would be the pool ship where we fought the final battle." Those words froze me, both thought and body alike. The Final battle, the one Rachel died in. The one Tom died in. The one all the new Animorphs died in. The one where Jake ordered the deaths of a thousand defenseless Yeerks. All those deaths were in some way because of Jake. No wonder we were here.

Rachel had pulled away; she obviously was just as uncomfortable with this new revelation as I was. Marco seemed off himself, which worried me further. Without any further words, Nodded to Marco and moved out the door and started down the hall. If this was the ship, then the bridge is where we needed to be. Rachel and Marco quickly followed. It didn't take us long at all before we entered the bridge to find ourselves…mostly. Marco was there and so was I in my bird form, as well as Ax, Cassie and Jake. But Rachel was absent; she'd be on Tom's ship right now, waiting to die.

Our entry didn't go unnoticed, The grand Visser one, formerly Visser Three, turned all four of his eyes towards us and then to the us already there.

_(More Reinforcements? You have us already don't you?_) He sneered. I didn't remember him being that defiant when it actually happened, but memories change over time so I didn't question what would happen in this memory. Ax looked quite confused, his tail blade raised high, his eyes switching from us to the Visser. Jake turned to face us as did the other Marco. "What the hell? Who cloned me?" He asked.

Our Marco leaned closer towards me, his hand hiding his lips. "So…how do we explain ourselves to ourselves?" I just shrugged as the bird me turned too. _(Ooookay. Something is officially screwy now. What's going on?)_

Jake just stood there motionless, his eyes seemed dark and unfocused, bags visible beneath them. He looked as if he'd lived a hundred horrible years. He didn't speak or do anything but stare at us as if we were a dream. In the seconds after I, or rather the other me spoke, the only sounds we could hear were the breathing of those of us on the bridge and the cries of the new Animorphs, who were being watched and listened to on a few vid screens. Dying one by one. Rachel decided to speak up and drown out the noises, as everyone except for the Visser seemed disturbed by them.

"Jake I don't have much time to explain. We'll tell you everything, but we need to get out of here first. We've traveled using the Time Matrix." Those two last words produced a reaction, from a variety of sources. Visser one swiveled his eyes so that two were staring hard at Rachel, and the other two were looking behind us. I could already see the wheels in his head moving. The other me, other Marco, and other Cassie (who had kept silent), all looked between themselves before looking back at us and then whispering among themselves. Ax actually spoke, rather thought spoke out loud._ (The Time Matrix!) _His blade almost lowered, almost. For once I got no sense of déjà vu; this really was a new experience. Jake on the other hand seemed to have trouble following. I wondered how many nightmares he'd already been through, though in the end it didn't matter, the One had gone too far, turning our memories against us.

Finally, our once fearless leader caught up. "You're from the future, or the past?"

Rachel glanced at the Visser, who I suspected was already shouting thought speak commands to any who could hear him. Then she looked back at Jake. "This would be better discussed elsewhere." _(Yes Prince Jake, Such things should not be spoken about in front of enemies.) _Ax had two eyes trained on the Visser, who just glared back with a single stalk eye. "Jake, come on." Rachel began, starting to speak as if to a child to convince them to come. I leaned in to Marco while she tried to convince Jake. "Hey, We're gonna hit trouble getting out. The Visser's gonna try something." He nodded, and I knew he'd been thinking the same thing. "In our world we couldn't morph…think we can in this one?" He asked. I frowned and shook my head. "Already tried, I'm stuck. Don't know about you."

I spared a look at Rachel; she wasn't having much luck convincing Jake. And we were running out of time. Soon…all too soon the Blade ship would be contacting us. Marco tapped me on the shoulder, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Negative here too, but they can morph." He pointed to our other selves. It was my turn to nod and I stood straight again, and moved over to the other me. _(So…you're me from the future, huh?)_

"Yeah. Look, we don't have much time; events are about to happen that will be….bad for just about everyone. We need you guys to get Jake to come with us, and then we need you to stop Visser One." One thing about my eyes, or rather hawk eyes, is that you can't read any emotion in them, it's unsettling. _(Stop Visser One? From doing what?)_

"We both know he's going to try to go after the Time Matrix." The hawk me bobbed his head. A moment passed of silence and I noticed thoughtful expressions on both Marco and Cassie's faces. Ax you just couldn't read the same way. _(Consider it done.)_

Cassie moved over to Jake, resting a hand on his arm. "Jake, you need to do this. If the future us came back for you, there must be a reason. Go with them, we'll finish things here." Jake nodded in a halfhearted way at her words, finally moving towards us. Rachel didn't waste any time and grabbed his arm, pulling him off the bridge, Marco quickly following. I stayed a moment later, to look one last time at us, before the end. From the expressions on their faces I realized something I'd missed when I had been there. The end had already come; our fate had been sealed for a long time.

The doors closed behind me and I went into a jog to catch up with everyone else. The sounds of battle could be heard from the bridge, I could only imagine what ourselves were doing in there, and I found that even though it was just a memory, I hoped they'd come out okay.

I finally caught up to Marco, Jake and Rachel, who'd begun to break into a run. "Hey, you think if we die here, we die for good?" Marco called out to me as we ran down a passageway that looked identical to the one we just left. I shrugged the best I could while running. "No idea, but I'd rather not find out." We skidded to a halt right outside a door; Taxxon bodies were littered around the area. This was where we'd started. Rachel hit something and the door opened, the 3 of us and a dragged Jake moving inside. There, just beyond the sliced Taxxon which had held my attention, was the Time Matrix.

"Thank god we didn't lose it." Marco said as we made our way over to it. "God had nothing to do with it." Rachel replied. We stopped just short of it and turned to look at each other and then at Jake. "Okay, so we've got him, now can we just pull him out of here, or does he have to know the truth first?" Marco asked.

HE HAS TO UNDERSTAND_. _A look between all four of us made sure that it was real. "The Ellimist…" Jake whispered half to himself. He seemed almost giddy, and yet terrified.

Rachel shook her head sadly. "His mind is in shock, all it knows right now is pain and guilt. Even if we can't leave, we can go someplace else. Le-" The sound of a dracon beam turned our heads as we saw white hot light burning through the door.

Marco looked at the doors incredulously. "Do they know that the doors aren't locked?" His timing was impeccable, as the doors chose that moment to slide open, revealing 2 Hork Bajir and at least a dozen Taxxons, most of them currently feeding on the bodies. The Hork Bajir began to advance on us, Rachel moving in between our group and theirs. "Go! Use the Matrix! Get anywhere, I'll hold them off!" Before I could even cry she charged them. I had no idea how the others reacted, my eyes were only for Rachel. Someone yanked at my arm pulling me backwards, to the point that I almost fell. "Don't Forget the Others!" She cried out as she reached the first one. As if in slow motion, I could see the arm blades come swinging down, into Rachel's fragile form. But instead of the carnage I dreaded seeing, she wavered and just melted into wisps of mist. "No!" I cried out as I felt a cold metallic surface under my hand, and suddenly the world spun, vanishing around me.


	8. Chapter 7

**AN**: Hey All! Another chapter is up, yay! waits for the applause to settle down Alright now, you know the way to show your appreciation would be to review..thats right review! Read and Review, R and R, a very simple concept! Heh, okay now that I've done my RR dance, on to the chapter!

**Disclaimer**: I own the books, does that count as owning the characters? Nuts...

* * *

**Chapter 7**

I don't remember much from the next hour or so. I ended up on a park bench somehow, where I just sat crying empty tears. I'd been crying far too much, what was wrong with me? I thought I could handle her death again, I thought I could keep up the facade I had built for so long, but I just couldn't here, and I didn't know why.

Eventually fatigue over took me and I laid my head down, drifting into sleep. It was very pleasant if only because I didn't have a single dream during it. When I finally woke up, the bench was gone and I was lying on a couch in someone's living room. It took me a few moments to realize it was my living room. Sunlight coming though the windows suggested mid afternoon. Yawning, I pulled myself into a sitting position, rubbing my hands through my messy hair. The events of the last 18 hours or so weren't lost on my and I could feel a throbbing in my head as I pulled myself together. Sounds were coming from the kitchen, so I decided to investigate, pushing myself off the couch and through the door nearby. Marco stood there over the stove making what looked like scrambled eggs. A thing of instant coffee sat on the table along with what looked like Coke. Jake sat at the table, an empty plate in front of him, and three empty cups of coffee; He was on his fourth. He still looked very disheveled, but the sharpness I'd come to expect in his eyes was back.

Jake and Marco looked over to me at about the same time. "Hey Tobias." Jake said. Marco cursed as something from the pan burned his skin and he moved over to the sink, running his hand under cold water. "Hey Jake, you know what's going on now?" I asked as I moved into the room and slumped into the chair opposite him. He nodded. "Yeah, and we've got a lot of work ahead of us if we're gonna beat this thing. I'm sorry about my world. I really am."

I shrugged it off. "You can't control it. We can't control what's been or how our enemies will use it against us. We've fought wars Jake, Nothing good comes of war." I rubbed my hand through my hair, watching a bit of a leaf fall from it. Some things that Rachel said before she….she left, came back to me. "Hey, how'd we leave your dream? I thought we couldn't until you understood."

He shook his head. "We didn't at first; we ended up in some park, before the war I think. Marco let you go off and grieve as he spent an hour 'waking' me up."

Marco moved over taking the frying pan and bringing it over to me, sliding a few slices of bacon onto an empty plate in front of me. I was surprised to find that I was actually very hungry as the scent hit me. Why did we need to eat in a dream? For the realism? What the hell, I dug in, scarfing down the food. It'd been so long since I had real food in the real world, I might was well enjoy it here.

Once I finished, I looked across the table, Marco had taken a seat and was eating his own bacon, as well as some scrambled eggs. Jake had started on his fifth cup of coffee. After a minute of silence, I became sick of it. "When do we go after Ax? He doesn't have much time left."

Jake stood; Marco swallowed and left his chair as well. "Now, if you're ready." I pushed myself from my chair. "Let's do it."

The Time Matrix was parked in my backyard, looking very out of place. We each touched the perfect sphere, feeling it beneath our fingers. "Take us to Aximili, to his thoughts, dreams or nightmares." Jake stated as he held his hand firmly against it. The world spun around us, colors twisting and swirling before settling into a solid pattern once more.

It was the Andalite home world, it had to be. The colors were all screwed up, blue instead of green, purple instead of blue, that sort of thing. Still, it was amazingly beautiful, even the Asparagus trees sprouting from the ground. So this was my home….technically speaking. This is where my father came from. Gods, why did I keep thinking about the family I never had, about the family I lost?

"Tobias, you okay? We need to find Ax." I broke my unfocused gaze at the horizon and looked over to where Marco and Jake were waiting from me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's save Ax." My hawk façade was slowly being rebuilt, and I managed to betray little emotion as I followed them. It didn't take us long to find the Stoop, an Andalite Home. It was like a carved out bowl in the earth with an awning above it, similar to the one Ax built in our forest, just a lot bigger. I had vague memories of this place, from when I was tortured. My father's memories.

"This is their family stoop… Elfangor's and Aximili's." I said. Marco gave me a sarcastic look. "Really? You don't suppose Ax is dreaming about some strangers do you?"

I stuck my tongue out at him as Jake just rolled his eyes and gave each of us his stop-being-stupid-and-lets-get-to-work stare.

"Right…" I said turning away from them and moving around the stoop, looking for something, anything to say where Ax was. It didn't take long. As I looked beyond the stoop, I saw two flashes of blue in a field a few hundred feet through the trees. I motioned down to the other two. "Guys, I think I found em."

Jake and Marco scrambled up beside me, looking out towards the clearing. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get closer." Marco hopped down the small embankment and hurried through the trees. Jake and I followed close on his heels.

The Clearing was kinda large, 200 or so feet in diameter. Rich blue grass carpeted the floor, a purple stream running down the left side of the clearing. Two Andalites were near the center, tail blades flashing in the sunlight, moving fast enough to give me a headache. The dance of battle…or play as I suspected, was quick paced, making it difficult at first to figure out who was who. Finally I figured out which one was Ax simply because he was slightly smaller.

We watched them spar for probably 2-5 minutes before they noticed us. I suspect that we surprised them rather well since Elfangor actually stumbled as he stared across at us before raising his tail in battle stance and watching each of us with one eye. Ax stood battle ready as well, though his eyes focused on one person at a time before moving to another. _(Who and What are you? What are you doing here?)_ Elfangor demanded.

"My Name is Jake. This is Marco and Tobias. We're called Humans." Marco took a step forward, raising his hand in a Vulcan hello. "We come in Peace. Live long and prosper."

I'd gotten able to read Andalite facial expressions well enough to know that if Elfangor was human, he'd have raised an eyebrow. _(Human? What are you doing on our Planet Human?)_ He inquired of Jake.

I spoke up now, not wanting to be left out. "See, that's sorta a funny story. We came to see Ax."

The two Andalites turned their stalk eyes at one another before focusing back on us. (_Who?)_ They asked in unison.

"Aximili Esgarruth Isthil." Jake clarified.

Ax started and did a very human thing, he pointed to himself with a look of confusion on his face. (_Me?)_

_(How do you know my brother and what do you want with him?)_ Elfangor asked accusingly as he advanced a few feet towards us, his tail still raised.

"That you should know a lot about….Father. The Time Matrix." I strode a few feet forward myself, my words stopping Elfangor in his tracks. I was hoping that Ax's made up world varied little from the real one, perhaps he'd kept that part. I hate being wrong.

Elfangor's stalk eyes wavered a bit and he shook his head. _(Whatever you are child, you are mistaken, I am no ones father. The Time Matrix is a myth, and a dangerous one at that. I would suggest you refrain from stating such fallacies when bargaining for your life.)_

"He's telling the truth Elfangor. Ax-man, don't you remember us?" Marco started to move towards Ax, but a twitch of Elfangor's tail stopped him in mid stride.

_(I would not try that again if you value your head remaining on your shoulders.)_

"Riiight…your point is loud and clear oh blue one." Marco took a slow step back. I looked over at Ax, he hadn't said much, he was just analyzing us. Some memory must still exist there, it was just a matter of getting to it. I looked over at Jake. "Why don't we show them the Time Matrix, Prince Jake.?" Jake gave me a startled look but it was gone as soon as he saw what I was doing.

_(Prince?)_ This time Ax spoke as he took a few steps forward. _(Your race has Princes?)_

_(Aximili, stay back! Who knows what intelligence gathering they may have done?)_

"Actually, no, our race doesn't, not in the same way as yours. But you named me your Honorary Prince, Ax, since your brother fell helping us."

Elfangor took two strides and his tail blade was resting against Jake's throat. To his credit, Jake didn't even flinch. _(You will stop telling these atrocious lies to me and my brother now or I will kill you.)_

_(Wait….lets see if they speak part of the truth. If they do have the Time Matrix, then what they say is possible, isn't it?)_ Ax came up beside his brother, his tail brushing his brothers carefully. Reluctantly Elfangor pulled his blade back from Jake's Throat leaving a pin prick of blood.

_(They are lying Aximili, they cannot have the Time Matrix.)_

"Look, we're aliens on your world, something which shouldn't be possible without you knowing, certainly we don't have anything dangerous with us since your people wouldn't let us roam free if we did. It's right over there, past your scoop.

Aximili took one look to at Elfangor before taking a step forward and lowering his head to Jake. _(Lead the way, Prince Jake.)_

Jake sent me a smirk as he turned and began towards where we'd entered, Marco and me following suit with Aximili right behind us. Elfangor looked around focusing on the trees as if we might be hiding dozens of soldiers there before following, his tail always raised, his stalk eyes swiveling.

"You are about to get a jolt of history and memory you'll not forget Aximili. Oh, and Ax?"

_(Yes Prince Jake?)_

"Don't call me prince."

_(But I tho-)_

"It's complicated." I stepped in as we made our way through the trees.


	9. Chapter 8 Interlude

**AN:** Hey all! Its been a long time, a really long time. And I'm really sorry. I was studying abroad in china and between everything else happening in my life this story went on the back burner. I decided to give you guys a small interlude before getting back to Ax and the others, and I think you'll be pleased, or at least I hope you will be.

Like always I only own the story, not the characters, The K to the A ownz them. (Okay...no more nutterbutters for me...)

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Interlude **

The Hork Bajir came crashing through the door, their eyes falling on us as they forced their way in. I didn't know how easy it was for my friends to die in the dream, but I certainly wasn't going to wait around to find out either. I ran forward as Tobias yelled at me. I yelled at them to go as I charged the closet Hork Bajir. Of course, being half their height and human, he got to me first. The blade swung down at me and the world vanished.

My name is Rachel. Some of you think my last name is Berenson. Its not, I don't have a last name, only titles. I'm Rachel the Animorph, Rachel the Warrior, Rachel the Bear, Rachel the Martyr. I'm Rachel, the casualty.

I died for everything we believed in, and I'm glad it was me too. The others still had things to live for, or at least I thought so at the time. Me….I'd become the war, I didn't like to admit it, but I knew. I'd become addicted to it, dangerous. Someday I'd become like David. And I couldn't let that happen, I couldn't let Tobias see it happen. So I was glad that I could provide one last service before I went, and glad that I went before I became something I fought against once.

The Ellimist came to me when I died. By now I'm assuming you all know who he is and how he's messed with us. He came to me, and he told me that which we had wondered about for as long as we'd known him. He told me his life, who and what he really was. I'm guessing he left a lot out, because what he showed me was about as much as my mind could handle, but it was enough. Then he told me the one thing I needed to know most, that I had made a difference. I needed to know I didn't die in vain. And so I was able to let go of our realm of existence.

Death….and beyond, something even the Ellimist and the Crayak can't see. Despite their near infinite powers over space and time in the universe, they are still limited; they are still blind to things beyond. I can't speak about what's beyond death….not because there are laws against it, but because it simply can't be done. There is no way to quantify it, in English, in the fabric of space time, or any other language. Let's just say it is far more than I was expecting, and radically different from anything we can imagine or understand currently. I bet the Ellimist has some idea of what it is, he's been floating around secluded from space time long enough to understand a little of what lies beyond space-time and his existence.

I was there…and then I was pulled back. Again I can't even state how much time passed there, it just doesn't work on a level we can interpret in this plane of existence. The Ellimist was the cause of course, but I doubt he expected me to know exactly what had happened to me. He'd rewound time in a pocket around my body at the instant of death and reconnected with my "soul" if you will. Seems the Crayak cheated, he'd brought in a substantial pawn into their game, one who should not have been according to the rules that he and the Ellimist created. It's not the first time the Crayak had cheated, but it was the most important. You see, this time, the Ellimist had gotten to the position to win, for once and for all, after millions of years. And the Crayak knew that the Ellimist would still abide by the rules they set forth, with only a small handicap in his favor because of the cheating. It was a way to reverse the win in favor of the Crayak.

I'm the winning piece. I was the chosen countermove by the Ellimist. I hated and still hate being a pawn for those two, and considering where I'd gone and become, I could have refused. But Tobias was in danger, and I saw my chance to correct what I saw as my greatest mistake when I died.

My "soul" had been brought into the timeline in sync with the Animorphs and the One. And I was dropped into Tobias's dream world. You know the rest.

I appeared back in front of the Ellimist, in his old man form. SO…..SELF SACRIFICE AGAIN RACHEL? He gave me an amused look, I just frowned at him.

"Look, I'm trying okay? If you want me to win this game for you, let me do things my way."

I KNOW, AND I UNDERSTAND, BUT WE MUST BE CAREFUL. IF CRAYAK FINDS OUT THE EXACT NATURE OF MY MOVE HE WILL COUNTERMOVE AND WE MAY ALL BE LOST THEN. YOU MUST KEEP HIDDEN FROM HIS EYE, AND SUCH ACTIONS ON YOUR PART PUT THAT IN JEOPARDY.

I let out a growl and nodded. "What reality did they head into?"

THEY ARE HEADING TO AXIMILI'S NOW. I CANNOT INSERT YOU THERE WITHOUT CRAYAK NOTICING. WE WAIT UNTIL THEY ENTER ANOTHER.

"Fine. But do you mind warning Tobias before I land alive in front of him again?"

IF IT MUST BE SO.

"It must." I glanced around the absolute blackness that surrounded the Ellimist and me. "So….this is pretty uninteresting."

RELAX, I WILL SHOW YOU SOMETHING TO KEEP YOU OCCUPIED. And suddenly all the universe opened up to me, and I saw for the first time what the Ellimist saw in startling clarity. "Wow……"


	10. Chapter 9

**AN:** Its been almost a year since the last chapter and I do apologize. I did warn there would be some large breaks, but I never expected one that big. Thank you for your reviews, and I promise not to let such a large amount of time pass again. As you all know I own only the story, the characters belong to the artist K.A, formally known as Applegate. (It wasn't the nutterbutters this time, though I'm still blaming them.)

Also, I know its not big, but I'm gonna try to get some uniformity graphically between chapters (Its such a small thing, you probably won't notice), so I'm going to re-upload the previous chapters so that they all look the same, but none of the content has changed, so you don't have go back or anything.

* * *

******Chapter 9**

The vegetation was sparse enough that it only took us a few minutes find the Time Matrix. Marco was in the front and saw it first, stopping so suddenly I walked right into him, stumbling. "Wha-?"

"Shhh!" Marco reached back and shoved me to the ground as he flattened himself against it as well. I risked a look over my shoulder. Ax and Jake were perhaps a dozen feet behind us, standing very still as they stared at us. Elfangor had taken position in the back, but the instant he saw us hit the ground, he raced forward towards us. Marco tried signaling for him to stop, but he ignored him and moved past us into view of the Matrix. My curiosity got the better of me and I crawled forward, until I was parallel with Marco and could look down into the small clearing.

Four Andalites were standing over the Time Matrix; another one was slightly farther back turned away from us, though his stalk eyes were watching Elfangor. The two over the Matrix were holding hand held weapons. Elfangor's main eyes were staring at the perfect silver sphere while his stalk eyes were moving between the guards and the other Andalite. _What…_

_(Elfangor Sirrinial Shamtul!)_ The thought speak boomed through the clearing, freezing me where I stood. A glance at Marco's face and his wide eyes confirmed my fears. I knew that thoughtspeak….it was Visser Three's.

Elfangor looked startled, lowering his tail blade and bowing his head to the far Andalite. _(War-Prince Alloran. I am honored you have come-)_

_(I have no time for pleasantries. You have been involved in a most unpleasant circumstance. Three aliens have used this device to infiltrate our planet, -)_

_(They said it was the Time Matrix, War-Prince.)_

Alloran narrowed his eyes and turned completely around focusing all four of them on Elfangor. _(You have had contact with these aliens?)_

The clearing suddenly became very quiet and I knew that the thought speech had become private. One of Alloran's eyes suddenly swept over Marco and my hiding spot, my stomach turning to lead. That eye for a brief second wasn't Alloran's, it was the Crayak's. I turned to see if Marco had seen it, but as I faced away from the clearing, the sound of a weapon firing washed over me, the flash being caught in the corner of my vision. Marco let out a gasp and crawled backwards quickly. As I looked back, I caught the last glimpse of Elfangor as he collapsed to the ground, burn marks covering his chest. Alloran and the 2 Andalites were now moving in our direction.

Suddenly arms were around me, pulling me up and backwards. I glanced to my right to see Marco pulling me up, and Jake trying futilely to keep Ax back without being trampled, but he wasn't successful. As Ax saw his brother, he cried out in thoughtspeak. _(Brother! You've killed him! You've killed him again!)_

Dracon beams shattered the strange trees around us as the Andalites flanking Alloran opened fire on us.

"Ax! We need to get back to your scoop, Now!" Jake cried as he pulled Ax's Arm. Marco had already dashed backwards through the woods, pausing long enough to wave towards us. I took one last glance at the Andalites moving towards us before running after him.

Jake struggled with Ax a moment longer before Ax reluctantly turned around and followed us, his stalk eyes watching the Andalites chasing us. Marco crested the hill in front of me and I could just make out the scoop past him. _(Tobias, Marco, I'll distract them, wake Ax up ASAP!_ ) Jake shouted in thoughtspeak, causing me to stumble and crash into a tree. "Wha…" I twisted around and caught a streak of orange and black shooting through the trees. "But…its impossible…isn't it?" As I was staring dumbfounded at the spot where the tiger vanished, Ax reached me, his eyes wide. _(Your people have the ability to morph?)  
_

"Uh….really long story. I'll tell you when we catch up to Marco." Still Dazed, I pulled myself from the tree and lurched forward moving past the hill and down into the small valley where Marco was leaning against one side of the scoop, panting. "What's taking you? We need to find a way out of here." He called out between breaths. I shook my head as I pulled in beside him, and dropped promptly to the ground. "Jake morphed. How did he morph?"

"He what?" Marco asked me in confusion.

"He morphed…how the hell did he do that?! I thought we couldn't…"

"Well, we did snatch him from his nightmare where he was already morph able…" Marco said in an uncharastically thoughtful tone.

TSSEEEEWWWW!

A tree exploded nearby showering us with woodchips and toothpicks as Marco and I covered our heads. Ax looked around wildly as a tiger roared some distance to our right and thoughtspeak screams rang out. _Aaaaarggghhh!_ I couldn't tell if it was Jake or one of the Andalites.

"Let's save this for later. We have to keep moving. Ax you know these woods. Can we circle back around to the Matrix?" I asked.

Ax fixed his main eyes on me, as he tried to think. After seconds which dragged on for eternity he nodded numbly. _(Yes….I…I think so. Your friend has taken out the right flank and we should be able to sneak by.)_

Marco clapped his hands. "Good, let's go!" He yelled as another dracon beam went flying by, creating a burn mark in the ground a dozen yards from us. That motivated Ax and he suddenly took off veering behind the stoop and into a small gully, holding back just enough so we could barely catch a flash of blue between the flora as we ran after him.

In moments, the sound of battle became muffled though none of us let our guard down. It seemed like any second Visser Three was going to jump out at us but after what seemed like forever we emerged a few yards from the clearing where the Matrix lay undisturbed. I started for it before Marco grabbed my arm and pulled me back, pointing to a place in the tree cover not 50 feet from us. 2 Andalites were standing there, weapons in hand, looking around.

I gasped and nearly fell to the ground as it dawned on me. "Marco," I whispered. "They aren't using Andalite shredders; they're using dracon beams…yeerk tech." He stared at me a moment in incomprehension.

"The One made a mistake?" he asked.

I nodded. "These worlds are built from us, our memories, our experiences, unconscious or not. Whenever we were shot at, it was with dracon beams, not shredders. Even though we didn't think about it, it was something we would automatically assume."

"What are you getting at here?" Marco looked intrigued. Ax was staring at us and the guards as we crouched behind some bushes and I wondered how he was handling all of this.

"I mean our conscious minds aren't the only things that control reality."

"We knew that already, didn't we?"

I grinned at him. "Right, but see, back in our dream, our unconscious didn't think of morphing in extreme situations. And since we couldn't morph there, our conscious minds assumed we couldn't and therefore prevented us from doing so."

"I'm not following."

I sighed. "It's a dream world built upon our experiences. And what would our experiences tell us to do right now?"

His eyes glowed. "Morph…"

"Exactly."

I immediately began to concentrate and visualize my Hork-Bajir morph in my mind's eye. Within moments, I could feel myself growing, stretching my clothes to their limits. And then the blades began shooting outwards destroying any chance I had of salvaging my clothes. Beside me, black hair covered Marco's 300 pound form as his own clothes ripped apart, and a gorilla stood grinning back at me. _(Its Clobber'n time!)_ He yelled at me as he moved through the underbrush.

When in Rome…. I climbed the nearest tree and leaped from it coming down right on top of the nearest Andalite giving him only enough time to swivel his eyes upwards before I yelled,_ (Hulk Smash!)_

There was a crunching noise and some twitching from beneath me but nothing more. I heard thoughtspeak cry and turned to see Marco standing over a severely beat up Andalite sentry. _(Never get into a ring with a gorilla, you'll lose.)_

_(Are there anymore?)_

Marco glanced around and shook his head._ (I think that was it. Where's Ax-man?)_

_(I am here. Your morphs look familiar, where are they from?)_ Ax came moving through the underbrush and stopped at the sentry beside Marco, reaching down reluctantly to pick up the dracon beam there and look over it curiously.

_(It's a looooong story. But we promise to tell you once we are in a more …secure location.)_

_(Hey, what about Jake?)_ I asked suddenly, having forgotten all about him.

_(Good call. Jake? Jake!_) Marco yelled.

_(I'm coming! But I got company on my tail! Get to the Matrix and prepare to use it! You've got like 10 seconds!)_

_(Come on!)_ Marco led the charge reaching the matrix first with Ax coming in second; I came in last, stopping to scan the tree line for any flashes of orange. Then suddenly way out to my left streaks of orange and black blew into the clearing. Jake was running all out, but he looked haggard and there was a distinct limp, he wasn't putting any weight on his back paw. It took me a second to realize that was because it no longer existed.

Just as he reached us, Visser Three and another Andalite broke through the trees and aimed their dracon beams at us. Marco slammed his fist on the matrix, Jake thrusting a paw forward onto it and myself shoving Ax's hand onto the surface with my own. The world began shifting and I could feel us pulling away. Then a searing pain hit my side and the grey mists of aether were absorbed into total darkness.


	11. Chapter 10

**AN:** Wow, another chapter out, and quickly compared to the last couple. This marks the midway point of the story, there are only 8 chapters left after this one, plus an epilogue. So Enjoy and please read and review, as always!

**Disclaimer: **If you really want one, go back and read the other chapters, there's more than enough back there.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

I groaned as my senses slowing came back. I lying down on sandy soil somewhere near the ocean as the crashing of waves and the scent of salt came with the breeze. There was still a dull ache in my side but I didn't seem to be bleeding. Slowly, I pried my eyes open, taking time to adjust to the bright sunlight. The ocean was a strange purple color and the sand I was one seemed to be bright orange. We were still on the Andalite home world. I sat up, checking my side; there was a hole in my morphing outfit, but the skin beneath was unbroken; I was uninjured and human. I must have demorphed at some point. The fact that I was wearing a morphing outfit without ever remembering putting one on didn't really phase me, just another thing taken for granted.

"Jake, He's awake!" I heard Marco call from behind me as the thumping of feet on sand moved towards me. Looking over my shoulder, I could see a line of the bluish Andalite trees about 50 feet back, Marco running down towards me from them. In their shade, Ax and Jake stood, though both were now turning and moving my way. "Hey Marco, What's going on? What happened?"

He stopped, sending a small wave of sand in my direction and he slipped down into a sitting position. "We used the Time Matrix to escape from Visser 3. You were sideswiped with a dracon beam though. You managed to demorph when we landed, but went comatose on us."

I let out a little laugh, "I can't seem to stay in my right mind when we use the Time Matrix, can I?"

Marco gave me a pale grin. "Well, to be fair, you've had some good excuses."

"Hey Tobias, are you okay?" Jake had caught up to us, Ax standing a little farther back, looking fairly wary, his stalk eyes flicking along the tree line.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How's Ax? Have we gotten through to him yet?" I asked, nodding in his direction. Jake's smile became a frown and he shook his head.

"Not good. He still thinks this is real, and that we are just from the future or something."

"He doesn't remember anything?" I glanced over at where Ax stood.

"Very little, bits and pieces at most and he brushes that off as overhearing us during the battle. And it's worse than that. Marco and I have noticed that the world is getting blurry. Like something in the distance, only it's getting closer and some things are just fading away. Ax doesn't notice it. And, well, look at him." I stood up and looked over at Ax, concentrating intently, trying to see what Jake was talking about. After a moment, I gasped.

"I…I can see through him. Not very much, but I can see the trees behind him." I stared at Jake.

"Yep. He's fading too. Its very gradual, probably will take several more hours, but he's almost gone. If we don't do this now, it'll be too late. Marco and I have already tried getting through to him, and we have slowed down the process, but that's all."

I nodded. "I'll try. He's like a brother to me and I'm not going to let him be absorbed."

Jake slumped down next to Marco and motioned towards Ax. "Good Luck."

I didn't answer, just walked forward until I was standing in front of Ax. "Hey Ax-man, Do you know who I am?"

He nodded. _(You are Tobias. You helped save my life earlier. )_

"Yes, but do you remember me? We lived in the woods on Earth together, remember?"

_(I am sorry Tobias, but that is in my future I think and not yet come to pass.)_

I took a deep breath. "It's not your future. It's already happened. It was your brother who gave us the morphing technology, my father. We fought the yeerks together, as Animorphs."

His eyes became hardened. _(So Prince Jake has told me, but I do not believe it.)_

"Believe it. Your brother gave us a fighting chance. He sacrificed his life so that we could continue fighting, and we have sacrificed just as much. Jake lost his brother; Marco nearly lost his mother, I….I lost both my humanity and my Rachel."

Ax's face lost the mask he had been wearing and looked concerned. _(I am sorry for this Rachel. Is she why you lost your….Humanity? )_

I shook my head. "No. I lost it long before. Watch." I closed my eyes and concentrated on the all too familiar form of the red hawk. I was struck with a sense of vertigo as I felt myself falling downward. Organs shifted the sound of bones stretching and squashing filled my ears. I could feel my fingers melting together, my toes shriveling up or becoming hard talons.

"Ew, gross. Man, why couldn't you do feathers first?" I heard Marco call out behind me.

Finally, thousands of pinpricks all across my skin announced the arrival of feathers and then the mind of the hawk burst in. I was so used to him though, that I barely noticed. _Hello old friend_. Opening my golden eyes I looked upward at Ax, who was staring at me. _(This is why I lost my humanity. I became a nothlit trapped in this form.)_

Ax just looked at me, his head crooked slightly to one side. _(You were a nothlit….)_ His eyes began to wander, as if thinking deeply.

_(That's right. You and I were outcasts, separated from the rest of our kind. We lived in the woods behind Cassie's house. You are my Shorm.)_

At that last word, All of Ax's eyes focused on me intently. _(Shorm? We were….are… but that cannot…it is not possible. These memories are false.)_ Still, the wavering in his voice betrayed his uncertainty.

Jake moved up beside me and crouched down, whispering. "He's solid again, and the reality seems to be strengthening." I just nodded. Hawk eyes can see so much more than human eyes, that I had noticed the effect almost instantly.

I demorphed as Ax held his head in his frail hands trying to comprehend what he was remembering. "Ax-man. Remember what you said to the Visser when your brother was killed today?"

He paused, and blinked at me. _(Visser? You mean War Prince Alloran?)_

"Yes, but in reality he was controlled by a yeerk, he was Visser 3 of the Yeerk Empire, and later Visser 1. Remember what you said to him?"

_(I…I said he killed my brother.)_

"Yes, but you said more than that. You said he killed your brother again."

_(I…yes…I did. He did. He….killed Elfangor, didn't he? You….all of you told me. After you rescued me from the ocean…..I remember. So many battles, so much war. So many losses.) _The years of memories seemed to wash over him, the heaviness of years showing in his eyes._ (Tobias, Thank you.) _And with that his knees buckled and he landed heavily in the sand. I leaped forward grabbing his shoulders to help keep him upright, Jake moving to his other side. _(I just need to rest a moment.)_

"Sure thing Ax. Take all the time you need." Jake moved over, putting his hand on my shoulder and drawing me away from Ax. "Good work, Tobias. Knew you could do it."

"You know…for so long I wished I could forget everything, go back to being normal. And then just for a moment I got my wish. It's a horrible thing taking away that burden for a short time and then throwing it back on our shoulders."

"But it's who we are."

"It's what you made us into." My voice hardened somewhat and I moved away from Jake, dropping into the sand next to Marco. I knew I'd hurt Jake, I hadn't meant to, but I couldn't address it either.

Marco opened an eye and looked towards me. "How'd it go?"

"He remembers now. He just needs some time. When he's processed everything, we'll talk to him about the One." Jake replied as he sat down on the other side of Marco.

We sat in silence after that for about 15 minutes. Finally Ax made his way over to us and sat down with us, just staring out at the ocean. After a few more minutes I couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up. "Hey Ax, I was wondering, if you are ready to talk about it, what happened? How'd you get here?"

Ax turned a stalk eye towards me but didn't say anything at first. Finally the eye focused back on the water._ (We were on patrol, searching for the blade ship. We came across a very large vessel that seemed to be void of life, so we went to investigate, after finding signs that the blade ship had been there. But it was a trap. Half of my party was killed and the rest of us were taken prisoner. We were tortured for information by the yeerks for days. Finally they revealed they had aligned themselves with a being known as the One. It had been imprisoned in that ship until the Yeerks had freed it. It could absorb the memories and abilities of other beings as well as project itself into their minds. The One absorbed my crew one by one, forcing me to watch. It even extended the process so that it took many hours for each, and spread them out allowing the yeerks to torture me in-between. Then the blade ship detected another vessel moving in and so the One decided it was my turn. That's all I remember. )_

"Oh, Ax-man. I'm sorry."

_(It is alright Marco, you are not to blame and you have come to rescue me, for which I am very grateful, though ashamed that you too have been caught by the One.)_

"Not to worry, The Ellimist is on our side, he's been giving us help."

_(The Ellimist is involved?)_

Quickly I explained how the Ellimist had send Rachel to help us and how the One was part of the game with the Crayak. I choked up when I reached Rachel's sacrifice though, and Jake had to take over. When he finished, Ax just nodded and stood.

_(In that case, it is time to find a way out of here. How do you suggest we break from this illusion, Prince Jake?)_

"Ax, don't call me prince."

_(Yes Prince Jake.)_

I laughed.


	12. Chapter 11

**AN:** Okay, well that took me a really really really long time to get out. I'm very sorry. This is my final year of college and Thesis takes up just about all my free time, so I haven't been able to focus on my writing very much. I'd like to thank all my reviewers and everyone who has actually stuck by me despite the large gaps of time between chapters. 

**Disclaimer: **The Goddess Applegate created this world, I merely tell one of its stories. 

* * *

**Chapter 11**

We moved off the beach and into the tree cover. As we stood in a circle, I noticed the Time matrix resting at the base of one of the trees, covered partially in leaves. "Um, why is it covered in debris?"

Marco blushed, "I uh, I was trying to hide it." 

"Good job, as long as the people we are hiding it from are blind."

"Hey, as much as I love these group discussions, let's focus guys." Jake shook his head at both of us.

I mumbled something which may or may not have been 'sorry', earning me an eye roll from Jake. He continued, "We have probably alerted the One to our presence now that we've stopped his absorption of Ax's mind, so we need to move fast. Any ideas on how to break from the dream permanently?"

"We use the Time Matrix. It's been good channel for our minds so far." Marco replied.

I nodded in agreement. "That's true. We know that these dreams are created out of our own conscious and unconscious minds, and that this Time Matrix, despite being created from our thoughts also helps us focus them, allowing us to break into other dreams. I think that if we all focus on it at once, we can shatter the One's Hold."

Ax looked dubious. _(How do we know that the One will not simply create another dream which we think is the real world? We have no way of knowing if using the Time Matrix will even weaken him.)_

"It won't hurt to try and if it doesn't work, at least we might have a better idea of what could," I stated.

"Alright," Jake nodded in agreement. "We'll try it out. Ax, you've had the most experience with the One, so if you think of anything that might be more effective, tell me immediately. In the meantime, what do you remember of where we are in the real world?"

_(We are in the blade ship, in a cargo hold which has been converted into a sort of throne room for the One. It is there it feeds. However, we are most likely not tied up or restrained in any manner. There were not many guards, 2 human controllers if my memory is correct.)_

"Alright then. I don't see any point in delaying, let's do this." Marco moved over to the time Matrix, brushing the debris off. I started to follow, but stopped when Jake cleared his throat and spoke. "We can't leave yet."

"What? Why not?" I asked.

"There are still three of us out there." Jake stated and suddenly I remembered; Santorelli, Jeanne, and Menderdashe. I had become so used to thinking that only Animorphs get into these situations, I had completely forgotten that our friends and other crew could be here as well.

"I knew we were going to forget something." Marco said as he shook his head ruefully.

"But we didn't. Now let's go find them and get out of here." 

Marco placed his hand on the Matrix and looked at Jake. "Let's go." I nodded and moved over to the Time Matrix, placing my hand on it and waiting. Ax came over next, tentatively laying his hand upon its smooth surface. Finally Jake moved to stand next to Marco and looked at each of us in turn. 

"Ready?" He asked as he placed his hand on the Matrix. "Bring us to the place where Santorelli dwells within his dreams." The world spun around us, colors blurring together and fading until all seemed white and ethereal. THE BEAR COMES AGAIN. I nearly let go of the Matrix at the voice and though I couldn't see the faces of the others, I had the feeling I was the only one who heard him.

* * *

The white fog around us became dirty with specks of gray, and then suddenly we had weight once more and were standing on solid ground, the landscape forming around us. It was bleak and depressing; grey clouds filled the sky, leafless trees spreading out beneath it. And then we were completely there and the rain that I hadn't noticed now crashed down onto us. 

"Well this is pleasant." Marco said sarcastically.

I stepped away from the Time Matrix and took a better look around. We were at the edge of a forest, probably in late fall. A lone highway ran past us some 20 yards away. Beyond it were hills rising high above us and blocking any view of what was beyond. Other than the road, there were no signs of civilization.

"Ax, you should morph human, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

_(Of course Prince Jake)_ Ax replied as his form has already begun to shift and melt. I looked away and began to study the highway. The rain prevented me from seeing very far, but I didn't expect there was much to see anyway. Something shimmered on the ground on the other side of the road. Glancing both ways, I jogged across the lanes and paused over the reflective surface. It was a green sign which had been knocked down. "Jake," I called. "Come look at this."

A moment later, Jake, Marco and a now Human Ax stood beside me. The sign was dented and worn, but it was still very readable;

Phoenix, Arizona 80 Miles

Kansas City, Missouri 59 Miles

Arlington Military Base 10 Miles

Area 51 2 Miles

"That is totally insane, it doesn't make any sense!"

I glanced over at Marco and shook my head. "It's not the real world. I'm guessing that outside of the area he is in, it's sort of thrown together, just so that it seems real."

Ax nodded. "That would seem to be an accurate assumption." I blinked and then realized that Ax had had several years to get used to speaking without playing with every syllable. How grown up we had become.

"So assuming that, then we are outside of his actual whereabouts so the question is which location is he at?" Jake crouched down next to the sign, wiping the rain off of it futilely as he examined it.

"Its not like it matters, the road leads left or right and all of those places are to the right so we would be heading in the same direction anyway."

Headlights suddenly came into view and the faint sound of an engine broke through the fall of the rain.

"Someone is coming." Ax said as he moved towards the side of the road.

"No duh Sherlock." Marco joined him, thrusting his hands into his pockets as truck came into view. It was a Military Humvee which slowed down as it approached until it stopped in front of me.

I looked at the others and then back at the vehicle. The windows were tinted so I couldn't see who was inside. Sighing, I stepped up to the door and leaned down, coming face level with the tinted glass. A moment later, the window rolled down and my jaw dropped a few inches. 

"Hi my hawk, sorry it took so long."

"Rachel!" Jake yelled from behind me, running to the door and then stopping short, his face becoming very pale and horrified. 

"Hi Jake. It's been a long time. It wasn't your fault you know. You did what we had to do, and I did what I needed to do."

"Rachel, I'm so sorry, I could've found another way…."

Rachel gave him a sad smile and just shook her head. "No, you couldn't have. It was the only move left to you, to us. Now, get in and out of the rain. We've got about a fifteen minute drive before we get to the base."

"Wait, you're going to drive? No offense, but shouldn't you let someone more experienced, like say, I don't know, me, drive?" Marco had come up behind us as well, Ax in tow.

"Marco, last time I saw you drive, you managed to kill at least a dozen trashcans in cold blood. No way in hell am I handing this wheel over to you. Now get in." 

Marco mumbled something about getting better as he yanked open the back door and slid across the seat, followed by Jake and Ax. 

"It is good to see you again Rachel. I am Sorry." Ax stated.

"Don't be, I'm not." She looked my way and suddenly there was pain in her eyes. "But I do have regrets. Tobias, please get in." I broke from my thoughts and hopped into the passenger's seat. I knew she would be coming, but it was hard – I'd lost her twice now and I was going to have to do it again. 

Rachel switched gears and pushed down on the gas, the humvee getting back in its lane and heading down the road. As we turned a corner and began heading towards yet another reunion, Rachel leaned in towards me, "No matter what happens I will always be with you, but don't hold back because of me." I thought she was talking about the battles we would eventually have to fight, but I was wrong.


	13. Chapter 12

**AN: **This is longest chapter so far, so yay! I have no idea how I managed to write it so quickly. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far and please give more, I really appreciate them. Just a note before diving back into the story. First, for some reason, Chapter 5 wasn't posted - it went Chapter 4, Chapter 6, Chapter 6. So there's a good chance some of you were short changed. I've corrected this mistake now, so Chapter 5 is actually Chapter 5. Also a note of warning, the next chapter will contain spoilers from the Ellimist Chronicles if you've only read the core books. Now on with the show and please R&R!

**Disclaimer:** KA Applegate is to blame for the following story. If it weren't for her damnably addictive books, this would never have happened.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

The ride was unusually silent, not even Marco attempted any banter. The complex came into view several minutes before we arrived, concrete blocks rising out of an otherwise empty landscape.

"Alright, so how are we going to get in and find Santorelli?" Marco asked as the buildings and the tall concrete wall surrounding the complex loomed closer.

"Its not just Santorelli, Jeanne is here too, I can feel it." Rachel replied as she slowed down on approach to the gate. Two guards stood to either side and they moved towards the car as it came to a stop. "Everyone stay calm." She said as she rolled down her window and took out something that looked like an ID badge.

"Mornin' mam." The guard said in a southern accent as he took the badge and looked it over. He glanced over the rest of us, but his eyes seemed not to see us. "Everything looks to be in order. Go on through." He waved to another guard and the gates opened up, Rachel driving through and towards a low building which looked to be a parking garage.

"Okay, someone want to tell me how we just did that?" Marco asked incredulously.

"The Ellimist shielded you, it was the last bit of interference he could do. We are on our own from now on." Rachel pulled into the garage, and parked near the entrance.

"I hate omniscient beings, they never tell you what's going on or what to expect." Marco hopped out of the car, as did the rest of us. Rachel seemed to know where she was going so we followed her across the complex, staying along the sides of buildings and out of site. Everything was very dull and unremarkable; the buildings were unmarked and all made of concrete, with few if any windows. Beyond the main court which was ringed with buildings, the garage being opposite the main gate, there seemed to be an endless maze of buildings that stretched into the distance.

Rachel stopped in front of a steel door and slid her badge through the scanner beside it. A little light on the scan box turned green and there was a clicking noise. She pulled the door open and ushered us into the dim corridor beyond. "We should split up so we can find Santorelli and Jeanne faster."

"Agreed. Marco and Ax, you're with me. Tobias, you and Rachel take the south corridor." Jake said as we entered the building.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I wasn't sure but could have sworn Jake gave me a wink. As the three of them moved down the right hand corridor. Rachel took my hand and we started down the one opposite. The fluorescent lights cast sickly shadows across the bare concrete and the exposed pipes overhead added an extra grim feature to an already unpleasant place. "You think this is their nightmare?"

"I don't know, It wouldn't surprise me, I don't think they could have made it any more depressing." Rachel glanced through a glass window into a lab of some sort and then kept walking. There were several offices and laboratories off of the hall, but there didn't seem to be anyone one around. Every few hundred feet another hall split off from the one we were on, seeming to go on into infinity.

"Rachel, we haven't really gotten a chance to talk since….since everything." I said after bearing the silence long enough.

"I know. It's just… What more can we say?"

"Why did you take the mission?" I asked, wincing suddenly at how cold I said it. Rachel glanced at me, her face void of emotion.

"I knew the risks, Tobias, I knew the sacrifices. It wasn't Jake's fault. It was my own."

"That's bull and you know it!" My voice cracked as it rose. "Jake sent you in there. We could have found another way! He could have sent someone else, or two of us. Why… why…"

"Jake gave me the option; he didn't make me take it. I chose to Tobias. It was the only way." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she avoided looking at me.

"How could it be the only way?"

"Because I was becoming a monster! My bloodlust was too hard to control. I became the war Tobias! I was nothing without it and I would never have been able to live without it! I didn't want you to watch helplessly until I hurt you and everyone else…"

Rachel turned away from me and leaned against the wall, wiping her eyes and nose with her sleeve. I stood uncomfortably, my hands awkwardly straight by my sides and my mouth slightly open. "Rachel…" I sighed, placing my arms tentatively around her. Tears rolled down my own cheeks. "I wouldn't have let that happen. I would've saved you."

She turned and gave me a small smile. "You did Tobias. You did save me. Maybe not as you wanted, but you gave me courage and hope and faith and so much more. I would have fallen a long time before then without you." Rachel leaned in and suddenly our lips merged and our eyes closed. With my hawk tendencies completely gone, there was a whole new level to the kiss than I had experienced before. I don't know how long we stayed like that; it was so comfortable that I never wanted it to end. Unfortunately wants are rarely answered, the clearing of a throat broke the spell and we parted reluctantly to see who it was.

"We leave you alone for a moment and this happens. I must say I am very disappointed in you two. You're both grounded when we get home." Marco stood in the hall, his arms crossed and a grin plastered on his face.

"Please, like you will ever be father." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I don't know. Someday maybe. I'm more mature than I was back when." Rachel snorted at him, but Marco ignored it. "Anyway, Jake sent me. We found Jeanne. Apparently she was being interrogated for….well I don't really know. Anyways. Jake and Ax are currently working on waking her."

"What happened to her Interrogators?" Rachel and I had separated mostly now, though our hands were still tightly held together.

"We knocked both out, so no alarm as yet. But I'd hurry and find Santorelli if I were you. I don't our good luck will hold. I'm heading back in case things have already taken a turn." Marco turned and jogged back down the hall as Rachel and I exchanged embarrassed glances.

"Marco's right, for once. Let's keep moving." My beautiful bear grabbed my hand and pulled me down the corridor.

* * *

We searched all other rooms off the hall and had started down another without any luck. Except for very pathetic attempts at small talk and stolen kisses now and then little interaction occurred between us. It wasn't that we didn't have anything to say, like Rachel had suggested, but that we simply knew what the other was going to say before it was said, negating the need to actually voice anything.

The corridor we were in suddenly ended in an intersection with another that was brightly lit, and very wide. The main entrance into the building was at one end, a pair of double doors at the other. Four guards were by the entrance but their backs were to us. A few halls continued on the other side and there were several rooms off of the main corridor. "Alright, now what?" I asked, glancing at Rachel; she was staring intently at the double doors.

"In there. I can feel it. That's where he is."

"Of course he is. Think we can sneak in?" She looked towards the guards and nodded. "They're pretty far away, and facing the wrong direction, I think we'll be fine. Come on," Rachel waved at me to follow as she jogged silently to the doors, stopping to one side and placing her ear against the paneled wood veneer. I hurried after her, stopping beside her, keeping my eyes on the guard. "What do you hear?"

"Sounds like a ceremony of some sort. I think they're giving out medals or something," she whispered. Her hand started for the handle before she stopped and instead tapped my chest with her open palm. "Santorelli was just called; I think he's going to give a speech or something."

"Then let's go in already."

"No, wait. If we draw attention, we'll never get to him at the podium. Lets wait a bit."

I sighed, nodding my head and moving to the other side of the door, so that I could listen in as well. Placing my ear against the wood, I could hear muted sounds from the other side, at least a hundred people started clapping and I could hear the static of a microphone.

"Ahem. Good evening Ladies, Gentlemen and fellow officers. It is considered a great honor to receive this medal and while I am accepting it on behalf of my fallen….." Santorelli paused. He cleared his throat but still didn't speak. Whispers spread through the crowd as the silence dragged on. "…I'm sorry. These metals are deserved, but not from such a hypocritical government. I am supposed to be accepting them for those that died on the Rachel, but you must know the truth. I do not know what is going on, or what this conspiracy is but the crew of the Rachel is not dead. Something happened and it's being covered – Hey, let go of me!"

"That's our cue." Rachel grabbed the handle and yanked the door open, I followed suit. The room beyond was an auditorium, officers of all military ranks sat in the rows in full uniform. On the stage by the microphone was Santorelli with two uniformed army officers holding his arms and trying to drag him from the stage. Our abrupt entrance had turned many heads and the guards grabbing Santorelli had paused. He continued to struggle finally glancing towards us as well, his eyes lighting up instantly. "Tobias! I knew it! I knew you weren't dead!" His gaze was confused as he looked at Rachel, which was understandable. Perhaps thankfully he had never met her, so he didn't freak out at seeing a ghost.

"Good to see you Santorelli. Let him go." I glared at the guards holding him, wondering if my gaze held the strength it had when I was a hawk. Apparently not, as the guards suddenly tightened their hold on him and began pulling him off stage once more. "Get them!" One cried and instantly half a dozen other guards along the walls began moving towards Rachel and myself.

"Bad decision boys." I glanced at Rachel to see her already halfway into Grizzly Morph. One of the guards went to grab her arm only to be flung into the far wall. Several others backed off and seemed to be re-thinking their tactics. Hands grabbed my arms and pulled them behind my back. I turned my head and found myself surrounded by three guards, one of them getting out handcuffs. Anxiety flooded my brain and I focused it on the Hork Bajir DNA within me. Instantly, I could feel my muscles growing and stretching, my skeleton rushing to catch up. The guards holding me suddenly let go as bark cutting blades sprouted from my elbows and other limbs. I almost felt sorry for the guy with the handcuffs when the tail sprouted, throwing him to the ground.

By now, I could sense commotion not only around Rachel, but on the stage as well. It seemed that Santorelli was not going nearly as peacefully as the army would have liked. Shots rang out and there was a furious roar as a full fledged grizzly threw he man with the gun across the room while casually slicing another practically in half. Another shot and I felt a sharp sting in my shoulder. My morph was complete now and I turned to face the aggressor. He aimed the gun only to have it and his hand fall to the floor as I swung an armblade down at him. _(You shouldn't play with guns.)_

The room was mostly empty now, the guests had run and most of the guards were unconscious or worse. The last guard by me suddenly became very wise and fled the room. As I looked around to see how the others were doing, I found myself face to face with a polar bear. Rage welled up inside me, my blood boiling. My body seemed to act of its own accord as I raised my arm, sticking the blades out and –

_(Tobias! Stop!)_ Rachel was by my side, her claws resting gently on my arm. I blinked at her and looked back at the polar bear.

_(Didn't mean to startle you. Its me,)_ Santorelli thoughtspoke as he took a step back. I lowered my arm the anger still in my veins but under control. Rachel patted me gently with her paw, and I knew she understood but I wondered if Santorelli knew the significance of his morph.

_(Let's get out of here. More guards will be here soon, and with bigger guns.)_ I said as I turned and went towards the doors we had come in, avoiding looking at Santorelli.

_(Good idea. Once we get somewhere safe, you can explain what the hell is going on.)_ Santorelli walked a little behind me, while Rachel moved by my side. I reached the doors and started to open them when the unmistakable click of weapons echoed in from the great hall on the other side. I risked a quick glance and shut the door almost immediately. _(We aren't getting out that way.)_ There had been at least 20 guys with semi automatics aimed at the door and none of our morphs could survive that.

_(Great, so now what?)_ Santorelli asked as Rachel began surveying the auditorium.

_(I don't know, but we'll have to do it quick before they decide to come in guns -)_ Sudden commotion in the hall caused me to pause. People were screaming and the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire, the unmistakable sound of a tiger's roar piercing through it all.

_(The Cavalry has arrived!) _ Marco shouted.

_(A little late to the party if you ask me.)_ Rachel moved back to the doors and yanked them open, jumping into the brawl on the other side, followed closely by Santorelli and myself. It was easy to make out our companions amongst the crowd; Ax's blue form was a blur, his tail blade as graceful as ever. The same was true of the orange and black streaks that jumped from one soldier to another. The Gorilla was slower but no less dangerous and he tossed the men around like dolls. The fourth I could only assume was Jeanne, a black panther which danced among the soldiers with ease.

_(Xena! Wonderful reunion, wouldn't you say? See you found Santorelli; guess you two are good for something other than snogging.)_

_(Not the time Marco…wait, did you just say snogging?)_ Rachel tossed a soldier through a door off the hall.

_(Uh, so?)_

_(Since when do you say snogging?)_

_(Since he became obsessed with the Harry Potter fad that's swept the world.)_ Jake replied as he took care of a pair of guards.

_(Wow….I mean, I knew you were low, but I thought you had standards Marco. I see I was mistaken.) _ Rachel shook her head as she took out the final guard in the hall, leaving the seven of us standing amongst the carnage. Jeanne was limping and all of us were suffering from gunshot wounds, but none of us were critically injured it seemed.

_(Everyone okay?)_ Jake asked as he took stock of our situation.

_(If you ignore the bullet wound in my leg, my shoulder and my gut, then just peachy.) _Marco limped over to the wall and leaned against it, holding his side.

_(We can't demorph here, it's too dangerous, we have to get moving.)_

_(Speaking of,)_ Jeanne had moved to the front doors that lead outside and was peering through the glass. _ (There's a tank and about 200 men fast approaching. I think we'd better get going asap.)_

_(Come on, I'll carry you.)_ Santorelli moved over to Marco, crouching down so the gorilla could swing his arms around the bear's neck.

_(Alright, let's move out, back the way we came.)_ Jake took off down a side hall, Jeanne right after him. Santorelli and Marco went next with Rachel and I taking up the rear. We encountered very little resistance as we made our way down the halls; they were just as deserted as when we had arrived. We got to the door we had used to get in without trouble. Jake and Jeanne stepped aside and I moved to the front so I could "open" it. _(I do love our walking can openers,)_ Marco said from Santorelli's back. It wasn't far from the truth, using the elbow blades I cut the door from its frame and kicked it out, sending it flying into the group of guards that were waiting for us. Jake and Jeanne charged past me as an orange and a black blur, pouncing two of the still standing soldiers. Rachel and I went after the other two. I guess I was seen as the greater threat by the survivors and I felt several sharp pains in my side before I dispatched the final guard. The pain made my head swim and I had trouble focusing. There was the dull sense of someone putting their arm under mine for support and helping me to walk to the Humvee. I came to my senses enough to see the grizzly place me carefully in the way back.

_(Everyone Demorph now! We have maybe a minute and we won't all fit as is.)_ Jake thoughtspoke from somewhere up front. I focused on my hawk form and felt myself shrinking rapidly, my arms melting away into wings. _(Tobias, go human, not hawk.) _ Rachel said, my mind just registering her words. My mind felt thick and dull and it took a lot of effort to focus on the human me instead. By the time I started growing again and becoming human, the Humvee was already moving at a rapid speed for the front gate. Sirens were being sounded all across the base and I could hear the sounds of gunfire all around me. In my light headed state, I swore I could see several animals attacking the soldiers in the distance and though I couldn't focus on it, I was certain that a hawk was leading the charge. There was a crash and suddenly we were through the gates, the metal lying twisted on the ground behind us, guards shooting at us futilely as we zoomed down the road.

"Tobias, we have maybe two minutes before we reach the Time Matrix and less time before those army nut bags catch up to us – you need to bring Santorelli up to speed now if we want to leave," Jake called from the driver's seat. I glanced around as my head finally cleared and I grasped his words. "Crap, will do." Santorelli was crouched along the other side of the Humvee in the way back with me.

"Right, what's going on?" He looked at me expectantly. I took a deep breath and rubbed my temple. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Jake had ordered the Rachel to ram the yeerk vessel." He cast a glance into the back seat where Rachel sat with Jeanne and Ax.

"Good, at least your memories haven't been screwed with. Okay, here's the bulletin point version; we have been captured and are currently being mentally and physically consumed by the being known as the One. The Ellimist is helping us and brought back my Rachel to guide us back to the real world. Everything around you right now is just a hallucination of your mind. Any questions?"

Santorelli blinked as he went over the information; all in all he had taken it in stride. After a moment, he nodded solemnly. "That explains a lot. Just the one question. The Time Matrix?"

"Its also an illusion, but since all these illusions perform similar to their real world counterparts, this Time Matrix can break through the mental world walls, so long as you know its all in your head." The sound of a chopper washed over us, getting progressively louder.

"Thirty of your seconds before the chopper reaches us, Prince Jake."

"Ax?"

"Yes Prince Jake?"

"Ah…never mind."

The Humvee swerved and I went flying across the back, crashing next to Santorelli as we went off road and started down a steep hill.

"Ahhhh! And Rachel calls me a bad driver!" Marco cried as he held the door handle for dear life.

The Humvee came to an abrupt stop, throwing everyone forward. Through the dreary haze, I could make out the silver orb of the Time Matrix not 5 feet from Ax's door. "Everyone out now!" Jake yelled as he threw his door open and scrambled towards the Matrix. Santorelli kicked the back open and we hopped out, no worse for wear as we made our way to the Matrix. Light flooded the area as the Chopper moved over head. The sound of its rotors drowned out practically everything else, though the sound of a dozen trucks heading our way could faintly be made out in the background.

We pushed through the damp underbrush towards the orb. The rain had started again, but was barely more than a haze. Jeanne and Ax reached the Time Matrix first, setting their palms on its surface and waiting. Santorelli and Marco were next. Rachel had paused, waiting for me to catch up, so both of us arrived at the same time and touched its cool surface. Strangely it wasn't the least bit damp. I glanced around for Jake; he had ushered the rest of us to the Matrix before following, opening his palm and bringing it down towards the silver white surface.

"Stop Jake!" Jake whirled, the rest of us pivoting at the voice. Jeanne and Santorelli wouldn't have recognized it, but the rest of us did. The source of the voice stood about 10 yards off flanked by dozens of soldiers. "T…Tom?" Jake sputtered.


	14. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: ** Where to begin? Uh...let's just say its been a while...a real long while. Sorry. Also, for some reason I claimed spoilers for the last chapter which totally did not exist - my bad. There may be a couple from The Ellimist Chronicles in this one, and there will be in future chapters, so just fair warning now. Anyway, here's the next chapter written and awaiting reading and reviewing.

PS - In Other news, looks like they're going to republish the first two Animorphs books next year with some minor tweaks and changes, I'm rather excited to see just what those will be.

**Disclaimer:** No, I do not own the characters. No, I do not own the Setting. Yes, Applegate takes credit for both. Yes, the story herein is mine. Yes, I hate disclaimers.

* * *

****

Chapter 13

There was no mistaking him; he looked like a taller, older version of Jake. Exactly as I remembered. Rachel had died assassinating him, or rather the yeerk that had taken over his body. Tom, Jake's older brother. Jake had fought the war to save him, only to sacrifice in the end that which he had been fighting for.

"Hi Jake. It's been a long time little brother." The being that looked like Tom held his hands up and stepped towards us. "How about you step away from that orb for a bit so we can talk?" If it hadn't been for the fact that almost the entirety of the time I had known Tom, he'd actually been controlled by a yeerk, this might have actually been convincing. As it was, it looked like Jake felt the same way. "I….I'm sorry Tom."

"Jake, wait! Look, I don't blame you for what you did – it was a war. But if you touch that now, I will never be free."

Jake hesitated a moment. "Tom….I would have done anything to save you if there had been another way. But I don't have the right to change history to soothe my guilt, and I can't trap the others with me for it either."

"Don't do this. It's me, really. It's hard to explain but the One gave me life, gave all of us life." He gestured to the soldiers around him. Rachel gripped my hand tightly and I glanced over to find her face very neutral as if she had come to a very unpleasant realization. She turned towards me slightly and mouthed the word, 'Father' – I had no idea what she was trying to get across.

Tom continued speaking. "We aren't just delusions or Hallucinations, we're real. But if you leave, we'll die."

Marco leaned across the Time Matrix towards me. "Wow, it's like the plot of FF10, and we're the Fayth." I stared back blankly; it seemed everyone had an idea about what was going on but me. Marco just rolled his eyes and resumed his place, grumbling about uncultured barbarians.

"Tom….I I'm sorry. I wish I could have done things differently." Jake took a step away from the Matrix and raised his hands in the sky. "I just wanted you to be free." He turned his head slightly towards the rest of us. "The Barn." And without warning he dropped his hand onto the smooth surface of the Time Matrix as Tom jumped forward shouting, but it was too late. The world around us blurred and pulled away as if we were falling up into the sky. There was strange feeling this time – as if we were being pulled in different directions, one for each of us. I concentrated on the only barn I could think of. After only a few moments the directions seemed to coincide, four of them unifying together and overriding the other two.

When the world resolved once more, we were standing in the middle of Cassie's Barn, though all the cages around us were empty and the air had a strange dead feel to it. Jake yanked his hand off of the Time Matrix as if it burned. "That was a little weirder than normal."

"We're using a giant pearl to cross space and time in a hallucination created by an alien entity while it slowly eats us….what's your definition of normal exactly?" Marco found an empty cage and dropped down onto it.

"We don't have time for a break. The One's forces could find us at any time and we still have to get Menderdashe before we leave. Come on, back on your feet." Marco groaned and shot Jake a glare as he pushed himself back up and placed his hand on the Matrix. Jake waited until everyone else was back in position before doing the same. "Everyone ready? Alright. Take us to where true Menderdashe resides within this prison of our own making."

"You know, I don't think you have to say it out loud each-"I was cut off as the world shuddered around us and then spiraled off into nothingness. The journey was not as easy as it had been previously – it felt like we were stuck in a hurricane during an earthquake. I felt as if my body were being ripped into a hundred pieces – my mind fragmented across all of time and space. Distantly I could feel the Time Matrix getting warm, and then burning. There was a bright flash of light and suddenly we were all standing back in Cassie's Barn, as if we'd never left.

Santorelli moved unsteadily over to a corner and wretched in the straw while Jeanne just sat down heavily on the nearest crate. Ax's front legs buckled and he barely caught himself on a shelf. Jake dropped to the floor clutching his head. Only Marco and I stayed on our feet. Jake finally broke the silence. "What happened?"

"We almost got torn apart, or did you miss that bit?" Marco rubbed his neck and shoulders.

I suddenly noticed that Rachel was not with us and I spun around searching for her. "Rachel? Rachel!"

"Right here Tobias." I whipped around to the Barn doors as Rachel entered, looking slightly tousled. I moved around the Time Matrix and wrapped my arms around her, causing a grunt of surprise. "It's okay T – I'm fine, or at least as fine as one can be in my condition." As I let go, I became aware of the others looking in our direction and I quickly became interested in staring at my feet.

"Everyone was thinking of the same place right? So why are we still here?" Jake asked again, standing up and looking at each of us.

Rachel spoke up first. "I think I know what happened, but it's not good."

Jake just nodded for her to continue.

"I think Menderdashe is dead – When we've jumped previously, I've been able to sense the person we were going after – but not this time. He either didn't survive the crash or he's already been consumed."

"What? That is impossible. No Andalite would have so little resistance to this One being. I have been in the process much longer than he and I am still here." Ax was back on his feet, his arms crossed against his chest.

"I see that old Andalite arrogance came back with a vengeance…" Marco muttered not so quietly under his breath. Ax's stalk eyes swiveled in his direction, but Rachel spoke up before he could retort.

"I agree Ax, but that only leaves one other option. That Menderdashe died during the crash. I'm sorry." Rachel moved past me and stood next to her cousin, looking across the Time Matrix at Ax.

"That is not true. They could have taken him for interrogation as they did to me."

"Maybe…" Jake looked unconvinced. "Either way, since he's not in here with us, it's time that we break the One's hold and get out of here for good. Is everyone ready?" Jeanne nodded weakly and stood back up placing her hand on the Matrix. Santorelli also nodded in affirmative as he rejoined the rest of us.

Marco just bit his lower lip. "We sure this is gonna work and we're not just going to end up in another dream?"

"Nothing is certain Marco." I replied, looking across the perfect sphere at him. "But we have to try. Besides, we've got Rachel here to guide us if it is." Marco cast a doubtful look at my dead girlfriend. "No Offense Rach, but I'm still not entirely sure you aren't a part of this dream yourself."

"None Taken, especially since you're technically right. I am a part of the dream, just not the Ones."

As Marco was digesting this, a fluttering of wings caught my attention and I turned to the open barn door as a Red-tailed hawk flew in, landing in the rafters above. _(They Come.)_ I turned to the others as I slammed my hand onto the Matrix harder than I intended. "Guys, we got Company! They've found us. We gotta try now!" Only Ax and Rachel seemed to have seen the Hawk, both looking from it to me briefly before placing their hands on the Matrix. The others just glanced at the open door before connecting to the smooth surface of the Sphere.

Jake looked at all of us, his eyes cold and serious. "Concentrate on the real world, on our predicament as it physically is and waking up – shattering the dream. On Three."

The sound of hundreds of people running reached my ears and I risked a glance over my shoulder. The Hawk was staring at the open doors, its muscles tensed in anticipation. What was coming?

"One…."

The sunlight vanished as if a great storm had rolled in all at once, the wind picking up and whipping the trees outside.

"Two…"

Figures came into sight beyond the door, charging the Barn. Humans, Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, and even a couple Andalites. All of them were injured, mostly by physical damage. It took me a moment to recognize what they were – Everyone who had ever died because of us. They charged through the barn door.

"Three…"

The Hawk dove from the rafters, "Tssssssseeeeer!" talons slashing across the face of the first person to pass through the doors. _(Go!) _It yelled at me. Forcing a dozen questions from my mind, I concentrated all my might on being back in the real world. Then sound became indistinct, and everything becoming fainter; grey and transparent. A bright light seemed to be shining through everything, replacing the fading reality, and it was accompanied by a low rumble – a rolling sound that was growing in intensity. The last thing I heard was Rachel, faintly beside me, "Goodbye Tobias."

* * *

As the light began to fade, the strange sense of completing a morph came over me, the sudden instincts of the hawk merging with my own mind. And then I was back in my body, a red tailed hawk. I felt very strange as if I was restrained somehow and has this odd feeling around my beak and throat. With some trepidation I opened my eyes to see what was wrong and it took me a minute for it to sink in – There was a thick yellowish tentacle snaking through my open beak and down my throat. Half a dozen other tentacles surrounded me and held me tight. I began gagging, or at least the most similar thing a hawk can do when it's got something the size of an eel stuck in its throat. I didn't know how I was breathing with that thing and I didn't care. But despite my attempts, it wouldn't budge – it was as if it was fused to my flesh….which it took me a second to realize that it was. I glanced back at the tentacles around me, everywhere they touched I was numb and I could see that my feathers had dissolved in those places, the skin beneath breaking down as well. The One really was consuming us.

I immediately began to focus on my Hork-Bajir morph; I needed to cut these things away. My body started growing almost instantly, causing the tentacles to tighten against my form painfully. At the same time I could feel the one in my throat being forced apart from my body which was at least some relief. When I reached about 4 feet tall and didn't think I could take the pressure the tentacles were exerting any longer, my skin hardened and blades shot out from my joints, slicing clean through the yellow appendages. Something that sounded like a cross between a gurgle and a scream came from somewhere beyond the mass of twisting tentacles to my left. Guess the One feels pain. The sounds of struggles in front and in back of me suddenly caught my attention and I began tearing myself free from the last of the yellow limbs as the morph completed. Standing up to my full height, I could see now over the 'walls' made of the One, looking a lot like a writhing pile of yellow maggots. The One was a massive thing, sort of like an ancient vine which has been allowed to have its way for dozens of years – It covered most of the floor, walls and ceiling of this room with a central bulbous mass centered on one wall. I seemed to be nearest the door – I could see bits of orange and black beside me, ripping apart the tentacle vines as they tried to hold it and next to Jake was Jeanne's panther doing the same thing. Santorelli and Marco were behind me, morphing Crocodile & Hork-Bajir respectively. The One's gurgling sounded furious now, its tentacles shifting all over the place trying to regain a hold on its escaping prisoners. A mass over to one side lifted itself up, revealing a human, tentacles attaching where it once had legs and arms, and another spiking through the back of its head. It was like some horrible macabre puppet. "They're escaping – Kill Them" It hissed in a dry scratchy voice that only emphasized the fact that it was no longer living in the normal sense of the word.

Thwap!

A tail blade swum up from a mass of tentacles and sliced neatly through the one that attached to the puppet man's head and one of its arms.

Thwap Thwap!

The rest of the tentacles were sliced and the poor husk of a human collapsed to the floor, finally allowed peace. The Tail blade then began hacking at the tentacles all around it revealing a worn and bloody Ax beneath them. Large patches of fur across his body were gone leaving either horribly irritated skin or open sores. One stalk eye was completely missing as were several fingers on each hand and a good chunk of muscle on his flank. As he pulled himself upright I was dumbstruck to see that he was missing his right foreleg from the knee down, it looked like it had just been melted off. Whatever the dissolvent was on the tentacles, it seemed to prevent bleeding. Small favors.

Jake and the others had finished extricating themselves from the One and had moved over to the door. I had continued to stand in the same spot and fend off the encroaching tentacles like an idiot. Pulling myself together, I moved over to Ax and carefully positioned myself on his bad side, supporting him. I felt one of my arm blades cut into his back but other than a slight tightening of the muscles in his face, he made no acknowledgement of the pain.

_(I think we've angered it, let's get out of here.) _Marco said from by the door. I glanced behind me to see dozens of the tentacles ripping themselves from of the wall as the entire creature seemed to becoming alive.

_(I agree. Ax, you okay?)_ Jake asked.

_(I am fine Jake. We must move now or we will lose our only advantage.)_

I looked over with concern at Ax and sent him a private message. _(You sure Ax-man? you seem worse for wear here.)_

_(I will morph something more stable once we get out of this room. And thank you Tobias, for rescuing me.)_

_(I'd hold off on that if I were you, we ain't out of the fire yet.)_

_(I meant in there.)_

_(Oh. Yeah, no problem.)_ I helped him to the doors as Jake punched the console with his paw and the others pounced through onto the surprised guards beyond. Unfortunately, one of them must have heard The One's 'mouthpiece', as an alarm started blaring down the halls.

_(Why can't things ever go our way?)_ Marco asked as he sealed the doors to The One's chamber behind Ax and me. Ax began morphing almost immediately and I let him down gently, backing up as he grew larger and his fur grew in thick and white. At that moment, the hall suddenly seemed much smaller with two Hork-Bajir, A Tiger, Panther, Crocodile and Polar Bear all standing in a group. Jake started moving down the hall, but paused to look back at the rest of us. _(Everyone ready?)_

For Rachel. _(Let's do it.)_


End file.
